Voices of South Azerbaijan: Cleric Sentenced to Seven Months in Prison for Protesting Iran-Armenia Relations

Cleric Sentenced to Seven Months in Prison for Protesting Iran-Armenia Relations

By Alirza Quluncu, Voice of America, July 10, 2013

Hojjatoleslam Abdulaziz Azimi-Qadim

Southern [Azerbaijani] cleric Hojjatoleslam Abdulaziz Azimi-Qadim has been sentenced to seven months and one day in prison by the Tabriz branch of Iran's Special Clerical Court. Azimi-Qadim told Voice of America that the verdict is related to protests held in the city of Maragheh last December against the expansion of relations between Iran and Armenia.

The Oyan News website reported that the Azerbaijani cleric was charged with “participating in an illegal protest” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

During the protest on December 27 of last year at Musalla Square in Maragheh, attended by many Azerbaijanis, slogans such as "Long live Azerbaijan" and "Karabakh is ours and will remain ours" were chanted. During the demonstration, Azimi-Qadim and Maragheh-based activist Davood Azimzadeh voiced their opposition to "Iran's support for Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan."

The cleric was detained on the day of the protests and held for nearly three months in the Ettelaat detention center and Tabriz prison before being temporarily released on bail.

Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
İran-Ermənistan əlaqələrinə etiraz edən din xadiminə 7 ay həbs

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