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The article focuses on the torture and challenges faced by Salafis, in Azerbaijan. Arif Yunus, a historian researching Islam in Azerbaijan, says about Salafis have been arrested since 2000, with several of them subjected to torture. Also, international human rights groups have criticized Azerbaijan for its restrictions on religion in general. Comments of Gamet Suleymanov, imam of the country's largest Salafi community, are presented, in this context.

This section offers news briefs from Eastern Europe as of August 2015. Azerbaijani peace advocates Arif and Leyla Yunus have been sentenced to multiple-year terms for tax evasion. Russian Army Major Vladimir Starkog has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to help secure his release from his Ukrainian captors. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has pushed for the release of journalist Saparmamed Nepeskuliev who has been arrested by Turkmenistan's government.