Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 15 / Trend K.Zarbaliyeva /
About 160 religious communities passed the state re-registration in Azerbaijan and 155 of them have received the certificates, State Committee for Working with Religious Associations Chairman Hidayat Orujov said today.
Ten of these communities are non-Islamic.
"Presently, the committee reviews other religious communities' appeals on re-registration of ", - ," he added.
During the spring session of Parliament, amendments were made to the Law on freedom of religion.
According to the additions, Article 18 of the Azerbaijani Constitution bans the spread and propaganda of religions humiliating human dignity or contradicting principles of humanity. All religious communities can act only after they have been registered with the relevant bodies of the executive power and included in the state register of religious organizations.
The religious communities should pass state re-registration by late of the year.
About 600 religious communities appealed to the committee for primary registration and re-registration. The committee will appeal to the court to close religious communities, which are not addressed in the structure for re-registration before Jan.1.
Roughly 102 religious communities, including 101 Islamic and one Jewish religious community, were registered in Azerbaijan in 2008. The number of religious organizations has reached 534 in Azerbaijan.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at [email protected]