Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will hold discussions with the Azerbaijan authorities on recent reports of the persecution, arrest and fining of Christians in that country.

We regularly raise human rights issues with Azerbaijan, including freedom of religious belief. Most recently, on 5 December, I discussed human rights in a meeting with the Ambassador of Azerbaijan. The British Embassy in Baku engages with officials from the State Committee Working with Religious Associations and we regularly meet representatives of religious communities in both Azerbaijan and the UK to discuss religious freedom.