A religious community prohibited from importing religious literature by officials in Azerbaijan received backing this week from the highest Human Rights authority in Europe.
The community had sought official approval to import religious materials but select texts were rejected as they were deemed by the authorities as ‘detrimental’ to fostering respect between religious communities. The community complained that these restrictions constituted unlawful interference with its members’ freedom of religion and freedom of expression, and violated the prohibition of discrimination. This week, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in their favour.
“Freedom of religion is a fundamental right with which the State authorities should not interfere. It is not the proper role of government agencies to determine whether religious beliefs or the means used to express them are legitimate. It is encouraging to see that the Court has upheld the right to access religious literature and highlighted the effect of this kind of violation on religious minorities,” said Jennifer Lea, Legal Counsel for ADF International.
