08:46, 1 May 2005

Shaving as method

Officers of law enforcement agencies recently had several local believers forcibly shaved at the police station in the Hachmas district in the north of Azerbaijan, Azeri-Press says.

They were detained by the police and delivered to the station where their beards were forcibly shaved off after an interrogation. The believers were next allowed to go home. The police say the three believers were delivered to the station for a preventive talk and no pressure was exerted on them by police officers. In this case it is unclear though why the men came home from the police station without their beards.

Similar methods allegedly pursuing the goal of combating Wahhabism had previously been tested in other districts of Azerbaijan where Wahhabism is popular. For example, the same action as in Hachmas was two years ago used on the orders of the city police chief in Zaqatala.

Torture still practiced in Azerbaijan

More about Azerbaijan:

Human Rights Practices in Azerbaijan - 2004