BAKU, Azerbaijan (ABP) -- An Azerbaijani Baptist pastor imprisoned on what his supporters have called trumped-up charges has been released, according to the Baptist World Alliance.

Zaur Balaev was freed from a prison in Baku, the former Soviet republic's capital, March 19 after a pardon from Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev.

According to BWA, a worldwide umbrella organization for national and regional Baptist denominations, that organization, the European Baptist Federation and former president Jimmy Carter all lobbied Aliyev for the pastor's release.

“Baptists from all over the world rejoice in God's answer to our prayers for the release of our brother, Zaur Balaev,” BWA General Secretary Neville Callam said, in a statement. “His patience in suffering and courage in the midst of trial has provided for us a splendid example of discipleship in the modern world. We look forward to giving him a platform to talk to Baptists about his faith and his experience.”

Balaev was arrested in May 2007 after police raided his church in the remote northwestern town of Aliabad. He was charged with assaulting five policemen and damaging a police car in the process, but both members of his church -- made up of ethnic Georgians -- and other non-Christian locals said Balaev did not resist the arrest.

Ilya Zenchenko, president of the Baptist Union of Azerbaijan, was quoted by the Forum 18 news service as rejoicing in his colleague's release, but saying that “there is a lot more work still to be done to defend religious freedom in Azerbaijan.”

The nation, wedged between Russia, Iran, Armenia, Georgia and the Caspian Sea, is overwhelmingly Muslim. However, according to the State Deparment's 2007 report on international human rights, Azerbaijan's government controls the registration and operation of its houses of worship.

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