TORTURE AND REPRESSIONS IN FEBRUARY 2020
22 February
Sheikh Sardar was barely out of jail when he once again faced the police pressure
Sheikh Sardar Babayev
On 22 February, 2020, it came to the end the term of imprisonment of Sheikh Sardar Babayev (born on 12 March 1974), a member of the Spiritual Assembly of Azerbaijan (NSA) and editor-in-chief of www.maide.az, the theologian. He was sentenced by the District Court of the city of Masally in May 2017. After having received a religious education abroad, he was imprisoned for 3 years for leading the Muslim worship in a mosque (a restrictive measure was introduced in the Criminal Code in 2015, although Sheikh Sardar graduated from the Theological University in Iran in 2000, and therefore should not be arrested under this article, taking into account that the law is not retroactive).
At 5 a.m. he was released from the Correctional Colony No. 17, the place he had been incarcerated.
There were so many people (about 80) wishing to meet the renowned theologian that it was necessary to rent a ceremonial house in the Baku Yasamal district in order to accommodate all the worshippers. Yet, a few minutes later, when Sheikh Sardar arrived at the place the officers of the Yasamal district police department arrived at the ceremonial house and demanded all the believers to immediately leave the hall threatening them with arrests in case of refusal.
Unwilling to aggravate the situation, Sheikh Sardar and all the guests obeyed the police demands and left the ceremonial house. Thereafter, the renowned theologian returned to his house in Masally, while being warned not to conduct a worship service in any other mosque or face any imminent punishment if he ignored the warning.