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17 September 2026

AZERBAIJAN: More than 50 prosecutions in 2026 for unapproved religious meetings

A court in Baku's Binagadi District fined 8 Muslims two months' average wage each for holding "religious meetings and other religious activities in a private house". A court in Absheron District heard cases against 26 people who held an unapproved religious meeting in Mehdiabad. These were among 57 known administrative prosecutions between January and mid-September brought by religious affairs officials, police or prosecutors to punish the exercise of freedom of religion or belief. State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations spokesperson Yagut Aliyeva did not answer questions.

9 September 2026

ARMENIA: "The National Assembly has no authority to consider internal Church matters"

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's Civil Contract party committed itself in its manifesto to unilaterally removing the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin. After winning the election, it included the commitment in its five-year Programme, which the National Assembly approved on 25 August. The Church condemned the government and National Assembly moves as outside their competence. "We would emphasise that the state neither can nor wishes to appoint a Catholicos," Pashinyan's spokesperson Melanya Harutyunyan insists. "The state's aim is the restoration of the normal functioning of the Church's own bodies."

3 August 2026

ARMENIA: Trial of Catholicos, six bishops "violates" Church's "right of autonomy"

The criminal trial of seven senior bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church, including its leader Catholicos Karekin, is due to begin at Armavir Region First Instance Court on the afternoon of 7 August. They face up to two years' imprisonment for "failing to execute a judicial act or obstructing its execution" for refusing to reinstate a dismissed bishop in defiance of a court order. Ara Avakyan of the Investigative Committee, who led the investigation, refused to talk. The case "violates the right of autonomy of religious institutions", says Isabella Sargsyan.

22 May 2026

ARMENIA: Conscientious objector's repeat trial delayed and delayed

Molokan conscientious objector Ivan Mikhailov, refused alternative civilian service in 2018, is on criminal trial for the second time. His original 2-year jail term was eventually overturned. His current case reached court in July 2025 but hearings have been repeatedly postponed. He remains under travel restrictions. Baptist conscientious objector Davit Nazaretyan is due to complete his 2-year jail term in August. His case is at the European Court of Human Rights. The Alternative Service Commission refused one young man in January. It grants alternative civilian service only to Jehovah's Witnesses.

6 February 2026

ARMENIA: Prime Minister seeks to change leadership of legally autonomous Armenian Church

Officials have not responded to questions why Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly called for the removal of the head of the Armenian Church, Catholicos Karekin, despite the constitutionally-guaranteed autonomy of religious organisations. A bishop Karekin defrocked for backing Pashinyan's calls challenged his dismissal in court. When the Church ignored his court-ordered reinstatement, the Investigative Committee launched a criminal investigation into six bishops and a priest, banning them from leaving Armenia. The government has liquidated the state and church funded Shoghakat television channel and ended the Church-run military chaplaincy.

17 December 2025

AZERBAIJAN: Conscientious objector freed from prison under restrictions, with electronic tag

Jehovah's Witness conscientious objector Elgiz Ibrahimov will serve the rest of his one-year sentence not in prison but on probation under restrictions, wearing an electronic tag. On 26 November, Sheki Appeal Court upheld his conviction for rejecting compulsory military service on grounds of conscience. The Judges said his nearly 4 months in prison "will deter him from committing acts that could lead to the loss of his freedom in the future". Despite its Council of Europe commitment to introduce alternative civilian service by 2003, Azerbaijan failed to do so.

19 September 2025

AZERBAIJAN: State restricts who can worship and where

Sumgait's Peace Church is one of five Protestant churches whose registration applications languish unanswered, some for years. State Committee officials "simply told us that you cannot hold any more meetings, that it is forbidden to hold any religious ceremony without registration. 'If you do not heed this warning and hold a religious ceremony, you will be punished,' one official said." The State Committee did not respond to questions, including: why Jehovah's Witnesses cannot register nationally; why Georgian Orthodox cannot regularly use their Kurmukhi church; why mosques must belong to the Muslim Board.

21 August 2025

AZERBAIJAN: First jailing of conscientious objector for 3 years

On 30 July, Yevlakh District Court jailed 19-year-old Jehovah's Witness Elgiz Ibrahimov for one year for refusing compulsory military service on grounds of conscience. Officials arrested him in the courtroom. They took him to a high-security prison in Ganca, initially holding him in a cell with 40 other men and 10 beds. He has appealed. Zahid Oruj, chair of Parliament's Human Rights Committee, appears to accept the criminal prosecution of conscientious objectors. He insisted that since no Alternative Service Law exists, "our judicial institutions have taken the right steps".

29 July 2025

AZERBAIJAN: Large fines for religious meeting

Officers were watching a home in Nakhichevan where Christians were meeting. About 20 officers raided a Sunday worship meeting in April. They held three visitors from Baku for two days without food. Police brought cases against them and two local people. Nakhichevan City Court fined the five up to three months' average wage each on 19 June. The five will struggle to pay the large fines, an individual familiar with the cases said. Also fined and apparently deported were members of a Korean family who allowed the meetings in their home.

20 August 2024

ARMENIA: Conscientious objector begins two-year jail term

On 20 August, Yerevan police took 21-year-old Baptist conscientious objector Davit Nazaretyan to the city's Nubarashen Prison to begin his two-year jail term for refusing military service on grounds of conscience. Nina Karapetyants of the Helsinki Association for Human Rights described Nubarashen as "the worst prison" in Armenia. "There are no proper conditions for exercise or for taking a shower." The office of Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan did not respond to questions on what it might do to defend Nazaretyan's rights.

23 July 2024

ARMENIA: Only some conscientious objectors allowed alternative service

Armenia's Alternative Service Commission has repeatedly refused most applications for alternative civilian service from traditionally pacifist Molokans. They then – like Baptist conscientious objector to military service Davit Nazaretyan - face the possibility of being jailed for their beliefs. No official has been willing to explain to Forum 18 why such discriminatory treatment happens. Jailing conscientious objectors to military service and not respecting their right to a genuinely civilian alternative service violates Armenia's legally-binding international human rights obligations.

18 July 2024

ARMENIA: Conscientious objector "could be taken to jail at any time"

On 16 July, one week before his 21st birthday, Baptist conscientious objector Davit Nazaretyan received the Cassation Court's rejection of his final appeal against his two-year jail term. His application for alternative service had been rejected. "Davit could be taken to jail at any time," his pastor, Mikhail Shubin, told Forum 18 from Yerevan. "I am very disappointed by this decision," human rights defender Isabella Sargsyan of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation told Forum 18. "It is important to follow this particular case as well as the system more generally."