In Azerbaijan, police checks forced shaving of believer's beard

The Azerbaijani police are investigating an incident that happened in the city of Sabirabad, in the south-west of the country, where a believer was forcibly deprived of his beard. Theologians have condemned the violent form of religious dissent.

"The promotion by Djavanshir Zarabaliev, a resident of the Kyurdamir District, of non-traditional religious trends have triggered protests of surrounding citizens and caused a conflict of Ramzi Zeinalov, a resident of Sabirabad, with Zarabaliev," said Ekhsan Zakhidov, deputy head of the press service of the Azerbaijani MIA.

According to his version, "Zeinalov grabbed Zarabaliev by his beard and demanded from him to put an end to his talks that sparked citizens' protests and immediately leave the district."

Ilgar Ibragimoglu, a well-known Azerbaijani theologian and the head of the Centre for Protection of Freedom of Conscience and Religion, has strongly condemned the act of violence motivated by religious intolerance in Sabirabad.

Shakhin Gasanli, a Shiite theologian and the Imam of the mosque of Baku "Meshadi Dadash", has also condemned the public violence motivated by religious intolerance. He called unacceptable the expression of protest in this form, and noted that "any struggle should be waged within the legal field."