Azerbaijan Sentences Shia Cleric to Jail
TEHRAN (IQNA) – A prominent Shia cleric in the Republic of Azerbaijan has been sentenced to three years in prison.
A court in Masalli city, southeast of the country on Monday issued the verdict against Sheikh Sardar Hajhassanli on trumped-up charges, maide.az website reported.
He had been arrested in February after the city’s governor filed a lawsuit against him for having led Friday prayers with the participation of hundreds of people.
Azerbaijan is a majority Shia state of more than nine million people, with Shias accounting for 85 percent of the population.
Baku has been criticized over the past years for its ill human rights record, including reported crackdown on opposition activist
The secular government of Ilham Aliyev suppressed a Shia-dominated popular uprising in 2010 amid international outcry over his heavy-handed crackdown.
