Community of mosque "Fatmei Zakhra" prepares cassation complaint to Supreme Court of Azerbaijan

In Baku, the religious community of mosque "Fatmei Zakhra", located in the settlement of Eni Gyuneshli, Surakhan District, of the capital of Azerbaijan, is going to appeal against the decisions of lower judicial instances about demolition of the temple at the Supreme Court.

"Only last week we received the official decision of the Baku Appeal Court, which upheld the verdict of Local Economic Court No. 1 about demolition of the mosque under the claim of the Surakhan district executive authority. We have now time till March 6 to submit a cassation complaint to the Supreme Court. Our lawyers are already drawing up the document," Tofig Razizade, former activist of the national-democratic movement of Azerbaijan and now the head of the community of the mosque "Fatmei Zakhra", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

He has explained that the civil works in the mosque were almost over; the minaret of the mosque was to be completed. However, in May 2009 the executive authority of the Surakhan District suspended the construction and addressed the court for demolition of the mosque under the motive that legislation had been broken, when the land plot was allotted for the mosque.

"How could it happen, if the land was granted under the order of the former Mayor of Baku Rafael Allahverdiev," Mr Razizade is bewildered.

The Surakhan district executive authority refrained from comments on the problem; the secretariat of the district administration recommended addressing the Baku Mayoralty; however, the latter also refrained from speaking with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. The office of the executive authority of Baku reported that "the question is considered in judicial bodies."