Police Seize Bibles Of Azerbaijan Evangelicals; Several Fined

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By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest BUDAPEST/BAKU (BosNewsLife)-- Scores of Evangelical Christians in Azerbaijan were without Bibles Saturday, May 28, after security forces raided two churches in the seaside city of Sumgai where they also fined church members for unauthorized worship, Christians said.

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan Crackdown On Evangelical Churches

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By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest BAKU/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Authorities in Azerbaijan continued preparations Tuesday, March 13, to close down an evangelical church in the first such reported incident since the former Soviet republic introduced harsh religious legislation in 2009, rights activists said.

Christians In Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan Face New Restrictions

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By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest BUDAPEST/MOSCOW (BosNewsLife)-- Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliev was to receive for signing the final version of controversial legislation "limiting freedom of religion" while Christians elsewhere in Central Asia faced similar restrictions Saturday, May 16, rights investigators and local believers said.

NEWS WATCH: Armenia Cuts Ties With Hungary Over Soldier Row

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By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from Budapest, Hungary BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Armenia says it is cutting all ties with Hungary for allowing an Azerbaijani military officer who killed an Armenian colleague to return home, where he was immediately pardoned and freed by his country's president.

Azerbaijan Demands Closure Protestant Church

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By Joseph DeCaro, BosNewsLife International Crrespondent BAKU/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)– A congregation of protestant Christians in the Azerbajani capital Baku potentially faced its last public Sunday worship service April 22, as authorities have threatened to "liquidate" the church, rights activists said.

Georgia Detains Christian Evangelist After Preaching To Muslims, Activists Say

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By BosNewsLife News Center Georgia-map-in-europeBAKU/TBILISI (BosNewsLife)-- Christian activists have urged prayers for a frail Christian evangelist from Azerbaijan who has been spending a year behind bars in neighboring Georgia on what his supporters say are "trumped up charges" of drugs possession. If convicted the man could face 14 years imprisonment, Christians said.

Iran Detains Azeri, Iranian Evangelicals

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By BosNewsLife Middle East Service imagesTEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Relatives and friends say three Azeri Christians and an Iranian Christian remain behind bars in Tehran, nearly a month after they were detained as part of a larger government-backed crackdown on evangelicals. Seperately, Iranian authorities released Amin Khaki from Ahvaz Prison, after he served part of a one-year sentence for "spreading Christianity" in this strict Islamic nation, supporters told BosNewsLife.

Kazakhstan Acquits Pastor; Azerbaijan Church Threatened With Closure

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By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest ASTANA/BAKU/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Kazakhstan's Supreme Court has acquitted an evangelical pastor on charges of "severe damage to health due to negligence” after praying for an ill man, but devoted Christians in another former Soviet republic, Azerbaijan, were awaiting whether a high court would ban their church, BosNewsLife learned Saturday, June 30

Azerbaijan Christians Appeal Closure Of Protestant Church

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By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest BAKU/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Devoted Christians on Tuesday, August 14, prepared to go to Azerbaijan's Supreme Court after a lower tribunal upheld a decision to close down their Baku Greater Grace Protestant Church, adding to concerns about a reported crackdown on Protestants in Azerbaijan.

NEWS ALERT: Azerbaijan Increasing Fines For ‘Unauthorized’ Worship; Missionaries Face Deportation

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By BosNewsLife News Center with BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos in Budapest BAKU/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Devoted Christians and foreign missionaries in Azerbaijan have begun 2011 amid concerns about their future after parliament agreed to increase fines up to 16 times for unauthorized worship and evangelism.