Azerbaijani security forces carried out a raid involving hundreds of personnel on a Shia gathering mourning the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Shia Imam, in Nardaran, a municipality in the capital, Baku, on November 26, triggering clashes that killed five of the mourners and two policemen.
The petition said the police members had been killed by security forces to provide a pretext for suppressing the country’s Shia Muslims, who form the majority of its population.
On Friday, the country’s parliament passed a law banning the display on roads and streets of flags honoring the martyred Shia Imam and also prohibiting those Azerbaijanis who have received religious education abroad from staging and performing religious ceremonies.
The attack last month was followed by another raid on a Shia mosque in the town, which also led to fatalities.
The intellectuals also blasted Baku for accusing Shias of supporting the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, which is mainly operating in Iraq and Syria.
They said it was clear that the Takfiri group was the creation of the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, among others, to be used to dominate the resources of oil-rich countries.
