P l a i n s / B a k u – Former US-President Jimmy Carter (Plains/Georgia) has demanded the immediate release of Baptist pastor Zaur Balayev imprisoned in Azerbaijan. In a letter addressed to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Alijev (Baku), Carter expresses his conviction that the accusations leveled against Balayev are false; that he was imprisoned for crimes which he did not commit and was arrested simply for being a Baptist pastor.

Balayev, who was then 44, was arrested on 20 May of last year during a police raid on a church service in the city of Aliabad near the border with Georgia. Official reports claim that the pastor resisted any inspection. He has since been sentenced to two years imprisonment for “resistance to government authority”. Yet Carter reports that 50 eye witnesses, including 25 church members, had contradicted the state’s description of events. He mentions in his letter that the police raid violates the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights and the practice of religious freedom. For the past 13 years, Balayev and his congregation have been attempting unsuccessfully to obtain state registration. Carter admonishes the Azerbaijani government to rethink its position if it indeed is interested in good relations with the European Union. The former US-President notes that the country’s small Baptist minority has consistently behaved loyally towards the government: “Baptists are people who wish to live at peace with all of society.” Carter also mentions that Baptists have in their 400-year history “been among the first to argue for religious freedom for all religions, including Islam, and not just for themselves”. According to Carter, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), of which Azerbaijan is a member, shares the concern for Pastor Balayev.

The Baptists of Serbia have also spoken out in support of Balayev’s release. They also received a letter from Hidayеt Orujov (Baku), Chairman of the State Committee for Cooperation with Religious Organisations. Orujov’s letter claims that Balayev was not arrested because of his religious views, but rather because of illegal trading transactions which he refused to terminate despite state demands. Yet the letter does not describe the nature of such trade relations.

Tony Peck (Prague), General-Secretary of the European Baptist Federation, has appealed for Balayev’s release and called on the 53 Baptist unions in Europe and the Middle East to contact the Azerbaijani embassy in their country to protest Balayev’s imprisonment.

Azerbaijan has 22 Baptist congregations with approximately 3.000 members; 96% of the country’s eight million residents are Muslims. Most Christians are Russian Orthodox. According to the constitution of this Near Eastern country, each citizen is allowed to practice his/her religion without restrictions.