One Baha'i, 18 Muslims Imprisoned in Crackdown on Religious Activity

December 13, 2004

Source: Forum 18 News Service

http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=475

On December 13, 2004 Forum 18 News Service reported, "One Baha'i and 18 Muslims were imprisoned for up to two weeks in September, during a crackdown on religious activity in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan (Naxçivan), between Armenia, Turkey and Iran, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Baha'i sources told Forum 18 that they believe the charges against Tavachur Aliev were fabricated, to punish him for speaking of his faith to others. 'Eighteen Muslims were given two week sentences on accusations of being Wahhabis,' Haji Sultan, the representative of the Caucasian Muslim Board in Nakhichevan, told Forum 18 on 10 December. 'But I don't believe they really were Wahhabis.' He said all the Muslims held were local people but denied that any were imams."