B a k u – On 11 February, the Azeri Baptist pastor Hamid Shabanov (Aliabad) was sentenced to two years of labor camp for illegal possession of a weapon. Court observers nevertheless note that Shabanov is innocent and that the weapons were placed in Shabanov’s quarters without his knowledge during a police raid in June of last year. Shabanov is also unwilling to accept the sentencing. He has informed the human rights organisation “Forum 18” (Oslo) that he will continue the struggle to clear his name, for he does not desire to live with a conviction on his record.

The country’s Baptists though are celebrating the ruling almost as if it were a victory. Ilya Zenchenko (Baku), the Baptist Union’s President, conceded that the ruling was completely unjust. It nevertheless determines that Shabanov will not need to return to prison – which was the primary issue. Shabanov had been arrested in June 2008 and moved to house arrest in November. Because, according to Azeri law, imprisonment and house arrest count three times more than labor camp, Shabanov’s sentence is equal to an eight-month prison term. He therefore remains only 27 days short of completing his sentence. Zenchenko also noted that officials apparently intended to destroy the Baptist congregation in Aliabad. Initially the Baptist pastor Zaur Balayev (Aliabad) had been arrested and released after eight months in prison. They then arrested the next pastor. Zenchenko stated: “The officials have deceived themselves. Our faith helped us to win out.”

Shabanov will not need to re-enter prison for the next 27 days. He will instead be inspected to pay a fine amounting to 20% of his annual income. Yet because he is an unsalaried pastor and is officially unemployed, he has no income. Court observers interpret the ruling as an attempt on the part of the officials to save face without needing to return Shabanov to prison, for the case has aroused international attention. Both the Baptist World Alliance (Falls Church near Washington) and the European Baptist Federation (EBF) had recently appealed for Shabanov’s release. An EBF-delegation even paid a visit to Azerbaijan because of the matter. EBF-General-Secretary Tony Peck (Prague) therefore sees a connection between that trip and the later ruling: “I am sure the welcome news that Pastor Hamid has not been given a custodial sentence is related to our visit, and also the presence in the courtroom of representatives of organisations such as “Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe” (OSCE). We are concerned, of course, that he remains convicted on what we believe to be false charges and we will continue to monitor the religious freedom situation in Azerbaijan and invite the whole EBF family to pray for the believers there, many of whom have to count the cost of their discipleship.”

The 22 Baptist congregations of Azerbaijan have approximately 3.000 members, 96% of the country’s eight million citizens are Muslims. Most of the other Christians are Russian-Orthodox.