Conviction for conviction-Armenia hard on JW

DannyHaszard

Convictions for Conviction: Alternative service recruits sentenced on AWOL charges

By Vahan Ishkhanyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

Seven Jehovah’s Witnesses who refused to continue alternative civil service have been sentenced to prison on charges of being Absence With Out Leave (AWOL).

The objectors face longer jail terms than conscription

The men are among 22 who left their assignments on “alternative civil service”, claiming that they were under the charge of the Ministry of Defense – a condition that would violate their religious beliefs against military conscription. (See ArmeniaNow’s coverage of the issue at Desertion or Deception?)

Nineteen-year-old Artur Chilingarov, Gagik Davtyan, Vagharshak Margaryan and 20-year-old Boris Melkonyan have been sentenced by a court in Sevan to three years in prison.

Originally the four were charged with organized group desertion, punishable by from four to 10 years in prison. The prosecutor mitigated the charge in his bill of indictment, qualifying it as organized absence without leave from the place of service instead of desertion and demanded 3 years and 6 months in prison. The judge sentenced them on the same count to 3 years.

Narek Alaverdyan and Arsen Sevoyan, serving in the Mental Hospital of Kapan, were sentenced to two years in prison on the same charge, and Shaliko Sargsyan who served in Yerevan’s Infection Hospital was sent to prison for 2 years and 8 months on charges of desertion. (While 4-10-year imprisonment is envisaged as punishment for organized desertion, individual desertion is punishable by a sentence to up to 4 years in prison).

Fifteen others are awaiting verdicts.

The defense attorney in the Sevan trial, 70-year-old British lawyer Richard Daniel, who has practiced law for 44 years, managed to study the English translation of Armenia’s legislation on the Internet. The only remark he has in regards to the law is that the law has set too strict punishments for desertion and absence without leave. “It is a very strict punishment if a man could be sentenced to 10 years in prison for desertion,” he says. He also says that the law on alternative service has drawbacks.

The British attorney (himself a Jehovah’s Witness) said he found it odd during the trial that the judge and the prosecutor spent the break time in the same room behind closed doors.

“No such thing is possible in my country,” he says. “In the UK a judge is approached by two sides simultaneously. Here, if the prosecutor was to remain with the judge, then I was to be there too, so that one side later would not suspect the other side of making deals with the judge.”

But Daniel says he was most displeased that the young men had been tried and condemned by a law adopted after their recruitment to alternative service.

It is written in the Law on Alternative Service adopted in July 2004 that alternative civil service is out of military service. When they went to service there was no provision as to what their punishment would be if they refused to serve.

However, 15 days after they passed to this service, an amendment was introduced in the law on alternative service according to which servicemen are punished on counts provided for military servicemen.

At first the “conscientious objectors” were interrogated by a military investigator, then by a civil investigator.

“It is a fundamental principle in international law that when a law is adopted it has no retrospective force. It is also the law of Armenia. If this law was in force, they would not have agreed to this service. I am glad that the prosecutor changed the article and mitigated the punishment. However, it was still an illegal verdict and we will appeal against it,” Daniel said.

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TopHat

At first the “conscientious objectors” were interrogated by a military investigator, then by a civil investigator.
“It is a fundamental principle in international law that when a law is adopted it has no retrospective force. It is also the law of Armenia. If this law was in force, they would not have agreed to this service. I am glad that the prosecutor changed the article and mitigated the punishment. However, it was still an illegal verdict and we will appeal against it,” Daniel said.

They were railroaded obvisously....

Will Power

Such a waste - their young - the cause is good, but the org. they're representing is not.

"""But Daniel says he was most displeased that the young men had been tried and condemned by a law adopted after their recruitment to alternative service."""

Kind of like hearing about the "Generation Change", AFTER YOUR BAPTISM or that Blood Factions are ok AFTER A LOVED ONE HAS DIED!

that your head office can sign up every year for 10 years as an NGO with the DPI of the United Nations on the sly and UNTIL THEY ARE EXPOSED.

Yeah, there should be outrage!

wP

AuldSoul

Kind of like Ray Franz being retroactively disfellowshipped for associating with someone who was disassociated AFTER changing the rules on how to treat the disassociated.

johnny cip

i'm sorry to say this. but these jw's got to work in the hospital. and they still screwed up based on wt pressure not to do the service. they deserve the jail time. even tho they have been brain washed. maybe someone can send these deluted jw's a copy of the may 1 96 wt that says it's ok to do civil service, instead of military. seems in some counrties were the wt can get away with the old light of no alternative serv. they will send the rank and file to jail. what should happen in these countries is that the elders etc. should be put in jail also for telling these kids to go awol. and then the leaders of the wts should be dragged into international court , for promoting this child abuse. and put on trail in an islamic court. i'm sure heads will roll... john