PRESS RELEASE
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Office of Public Information
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Brooklyn NY 11201
Contact: David Semonian
Tel: 718-560-5600
Fax: 718-560-5619
E-mail: opi@jw.org
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For Immediate Release November 14, 2006

Armenia acquits 19 conscientious objectors, but issue remains
unresolved

YEREVAN, Armenia-Nineteen conscientious objectors who left alternative
labor service have been informed by the Armenian Prosecutor General’s
Office that they have been acquitted and that the criminal proceedings
against them have been terminated. The ruling opens the way for them to
apply for compensation for their illegal prosecution and imprisonment.

Although the government of Armenia has organized nonmilitary work
assignments, they are under military control and supervision. Thus
the law providing for alternative labor service, as well as its
implementation, fails to meet the criteria laid down by the Council of
Europe, which calls for genuine and nonpunitive civilian alternative
service. In a series of videotaped interviews posted on the Web site
, four young Jehovah’s Witnesses describe in their
own words why Armenia’s alternative service was not an acceptable
option for them.

In a separate development, on September 12, 2006, Hayk Avetisyan
was sentenced to two years in prison for his conscientious refusal
of military service or alternative labor service. On September 25,
2006, Assistant Prosecutor A. Manukyan appealed the decision, asking
for a stricter sentence. The October 18, 2006, decision of the Court
of Appeal granted the prosecuter’s appeal and increased Avetisyan’s
sentence from 24 to 30 months in prison. Despite the progress implied
in the latest acquittals, Avetisyan is one of nearly 50 conscientious
objectors who are Jehovah’s Witnesses currently in prison for their
conscientious refusal of military service. From their study of
the Bible, they learned that Christ’s followers should love their
neighbors and that Christians are bound together in an international
brotherhood. (Matthew 22:39; Acts 15:22) As such, they do not resort
to weapons of warfare or learn war anymore.-Isaiah 2:4; Matthew 26:52.

Until Armenia complies with its commitments to the Council of Europe
to adopt genuine civilian alternative service and release
conscientious objectors from prison, the issue of conscientious
objection to military service remains unresolved.

Contacts
Paul Gillies Phone +44 7775 833880
David Semonian Phone +1 718 560 5600