On 6 September, Yalchin Abdullayev, head of the Absheron-Khizi branch of the State Committee, arrived with Police officers at the place where Peace Protestant Church has met for many years, church members told Forum 18.
The official and police officers arrived as church members were preparing for their regular Sunday morning meeting for worship. Officials claimed the Church was meeting “illegally”.
Peace Church applied for registration with the State Committee in April 2025. The State Committee has given no formal response to the registration application (as often happens when non-Muslim communities apply for registration). State Committee officials gave verbal approval for the Church to continue meeting in September 2025.
During the raid, Police stopped one church member from filming and confiscated phones from all those present. They then loaded 30 church members into police vehicles “like dangerous criminals caught in criminal activity” and took them to the police station.
“Everyone was forced to stand in a narrow, unventilated hallway for up to 12 hours,” church members noted. “Their faith and their identities were mocked. Bibles, audio Bible radios, and materials confiscated from the church building were forcibly carried into the station by church members, including disabled men and young boys. For hours, it was impossible to contact anyone, drink water, or eat a meal. Only later we got permission to get water and food.”
Police did not allow the detained church members to contact others. Other church members found out where they were being held only later and brought them food and water.
Police forced all the detained church members to write statements that they are Christians and members of Peace Church. Officers released them after some hours in detention with no explanation as to why they were held.
Officials complained about that Peace Church had Bibles in storage. “Unused Bibles kept in storage were falsely represented as being distributed without state registration stamps, even though the stamps were next to the boxes,” church members noted.
In Azerbaijan, authorities keep all religious literature under strict censorship and approved literature must have stickers from the State Committee before it can be distributed.
Church members do not know if officials will bring cases against them. “They told us that we might get fined,” one church member said on September 17. “But right now they did not contact us about our case and no records of an offence were issued to us.”
Pray
Please pray that the case will close without any further action against the church members.
Pray that Azerbaijani authorities will look favourably upon churches.
Pray that Christians will have the courage to continue meeting
