The “Juma” Mosque was built in 1899-1901. It was opened for worship again in 1992. It presently has about 3 thousand parishioners. Among them there are many high school students, state employees and influential business people. 80% of parishioners of the community have a higher education degree, 20% have a masters degree or Ph.d., and 35% know several foreign languages. These events first of all seem connected to the person of Ilgar Ibrahimogly. Ibrahimogly was arrested at the end of November 2003 for a period of three months. He was accused of participation in the unrest of October 15-16 in Baku, following the presidential elections. When Ibrahimogly was in custody, The city local administration sent a letter to the community, demanding to leave the mosque by the end of January 2004. It argued that according to the Public Prosecutor in the mayoralty of Baku, the mosque was maintained illegally although the community was registered by the Ministry of Justice in March 1993. The community refused to accept the SDMC rules for religious activity, and hence failed to pass registration in the State Committee on Work with Religious Organizations (SCWRO). Thus the community refused to vacate the mosque, and Ibrahimogly chastised the SDMC and SCWRO.

The community’s refusal to vacate the mosque forced the management of the historical and architectural reserve of “Ichery sheher” (Baku’s Old City) to bring action against them in court. The Sabayil regional court on March 1 upheld a ruling about the vacating of the mosque. Members of the community refused to obey the decision, declaring that the process was biased. The decision of Sabayil court was confirmed on April 22 by the Appeals court.

Authorities argued that no violence had been used against members of a the community, stating that they repeatedly asked the management to voluntarily vacate the mosque but that the order was refused.

Ibrahimogly links the recent events with his appointment to a post as Special Rapporteur on religious freedom to the UN. He declared his intention to continue promoting human rights and expressed confidence in the triumph of justice. Meanwhile, believers refuse to accept the newly appointed Akhund Surhay Mamedov, and continue to support Ibrahimogly. According to the 8th clause of the law “On freedom of conscience” accepted in August 1992, all Islamic religious communities are under the jurisdiction of the SDMC. On the other hand, according to clause 9, SDMC is defined as a historical-religious center uniting Islamic religious communities. For registration, a community must apply to the SDMC. Technically, the SDMC did not abuse the law when appointing a new Akhund to the Juma mosque.

Commenting on the situation, the head of SDMC press service haji Akif declared that “The community of the mosque operated illegally, and the SDMC management decided to put in order the situation there. In turn, the head of SDMC Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade declared that the Akhund in the Juma mosque was appointed with the reference of SCWRO. He added that the creation of normal conditions for the work of an Akhund is the business of the State Committee.

Meanwhile, the situation around the Juma mosque and the question of religious freedom in Azerbaijan is subject of concern for foreign countries. Several representatives of international organizations have appealed to the government of Azerbaijan to settle this question according to principles of freedom of conscience and religious liberty. Simultaneously some public, religious and human rights organizations sharply condemned the Government’s actions. The Chairman of the Helsinki Commission of Human Rights of the U.S. congress Christopher Smith condemned the Azerbaijani authorities for the confiscation of property of a religious community. 37 religious communities and several human rights groups issued statements condemning the government policy, assessing it as a campaign of pressure and persecution of Ibrahimogly and as an attempt to abuse religious freedom.

Ibrahimogly responded by noting that “We feel strong support of all believers and religious communities of the country. Now all the entire civil society of Azerbaijan actively protects the rights of the members of our community”. However, the situation around mosque still

remains strained. The SDMC management decided to close the mosque for refurbishment for three months.