Recent CO Action alerts

On 30 June 2010, conscientious objector Armen Mirzoyan was sentenced to one year imprisonment for "refusal to perform military duties", Forum 18 News reported on 1 July. He was sentenced at Hadrut District Court in the south of Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally unrecognised entity in the south Caucasus.
As a Baptist, Armen Mirzoyan is opposed to swearing the military oath, or to take up weapons, but he would be willing to serve in the army of Nagorno-Karabakh without taking up weapons.

Israeli woman conscientious objector Diane Kogan has been imprisoned for the second time on 14 June 2010, as reported by New Profile.

War Resisters' International learned today that Turkish conscientious objector Enver Aydemir has been sentenced to ten months imprisonment by an Eskişehir court on Tuesday, on charges of desertion.

Enver Aydemir refuses military service based on his religious beliefs as a Muslim. He refuses to be part of a secularist military.

War Resisters' International has been informed today by its Israeli affiliate New Profile about the repeated imprisonment of conscientious objector Shir Regev.

British Afghanistan war resister Joe Glenton has been sentenced to nine months imprisonment on charges of absence without leave (AWOL) on 5 March 2010.

War Resisters' International learned in February that Turkmen conscientious objector Navruz Nasyrlaev has been sentenced to two years imprisonment for refusal to serve on 7 December 2009.

War Resisters' International has been informed by Forum 18 News Service that conscientious objector Ivan Mikhailov from Belarus has been sentenced to three months imprisonment by a court in the Belarusian capital Minsk on 1 February 2010.

War Resisters' International received some new information on conscientious objector Enver Aydemir, who had been arrested on 24 December 2009 in Istanbul (see co-alert, 29 December 2009).

According to the information received, Enver Aydemir has now been transferred to Eskisehir Military Prison, where he is wearing a prison uniform, and ended his hunger strike.

Turkish conscientious objector Enver Aydemir was detained on 24 December on his way to a conference on conscientious objection during a random electronic background check by police at the ferry port in Kabataş, Istanbul. An arrest warrant for insubordination and possibly desertion, going back to his earlier arrest in detention in 2007, was discovered, and Enver Aydemir was transferred to Doğancılar police station and then to a military police station.

After completing her second prison term, Or Ben-David, of the 2009-2010 high school seniors letter of refusal, was sentenced on 15 December to 34 more days in the military prison for women (no. 400) in Tzrifin. This is her third term in prison and the fourth time she has been tried and sentenced for her refusal to enlist.

After completing her first prison term, Or Ben-David, of the 2009-2010 high school seniors letter of refusal, was sentenced on 16 November to 20 more days in the military prison for women (no. 400) in Tzrifin. This is her second term in prison and the third time she has been tried and sentenced for her refusal to enlist.

War Resisters' International learned today that Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, who already faces charges of desertion for refusing to return to Afghanistan, has been arrested and charged with five counts of "disobeying a lawful order" for speaking at an anti-war demonstration in London on 24 October 2009, and for expressing his opposition to the war in Afghanistan to the media.

Or Ben-David, 19, from Jerusalem, a signatory of the 2009-2010 high school seniors letter of refusal, was sentenced to 20 days in military prison on 29 October. This sentence follows a sentence of seven days of confinement to base given her a week ago (on the evening of 22 October - see co-alert, 23 October 2009). She is now held in the military prison for women in Tzrifin.

On 19 October 2009 US war resisters Rodney Watson decided to seek sanctuary in a church in Vancouver, Canada, rather than face deportation to the United States to face desertion charges. Rodney Watson, who is originally from Kansas City, Kansas, enlisted in the US Army in 2004 for a three-year contract with the intentions of becoming a cook since he wanted to serve the troops in a non-combat capacity.

War Resisters' International learned today that Belarusian conscientious objector Dzmitry Smyk, 23, from the city of Homel, has been charged for not joining the army.

Dzmitry Smyk, a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses, was officially charged on 8 October with avoiding mandatory military service. Draft evasion is punishable by a fine or up to two years' imprisonment, if committed after administrative punishment was imposed.

War Resisters' International has learned today from Forum 18 News Service, that two more Jehovah's Witness conscientious objectors have been imprisoned recently in Turkmenistan, bringing the total of known imprisoned conscientious objectors up to four.

Shaduri Ushotov has been sentenced on 13 July by Dashoguz town court to two years imprisonment for refusing military service. An appeal against his sentence was rejected by a panel of four judges at the town's appeal court in Ushotov's absence.