For the first time, the European Court of Human Rights sentenced Turkey for a breach of Article 9 on freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Applicant Erçep’s lawyer Alsancak said the verdict manifested the right to conscientious objection in Turkey. On Tuesday (22 November), Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the conditions of shortened military [...]
By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service The European Court of Human Rights has today (7 July) published a Grand Chamber judgment finding that Armenia violated Vahan Bayatyan’s right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Bayatyan, an Armenian Jehovah’s Witness, was imprisoned from September 2002 to July 2003 for refusal on grounds of conscience [...]
For Immediate Release June 30, 2011 STRASBOURG, France—Today the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the government of France violated the rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses when it attempted to impose a retroactive 60% tax on all religious donations made by Jehovah’s Witnesses in France between 1993 and 1996. In total, the French government sought [...]
For Immediate Release June 22, 2011 ST. PETERSBURG, Russia―Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia have filed two more applications with the European Court of Human Rights. The first, Aleksey Fedorin and Others v. Russia, was submitted by ten Witness applicants whose rights were violated when the authorities conducted searches and confiscated and destroyed their religious literature. The [...]
For Immediate Release April 13, 2011 BAKU, Azerbaijan—Jehovah’s Witnesses have appealed to the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan in a further attempt to restore their rights that were violated when the State Committee for Work with Religious Associations refused to grant them reregistration. The Supreme Court will hear the appeal on May 11, 2011, at 11:10 [...]
For Immediate Release April 1, 2011 TAMBOV, Russia—A criminal investigation has been conducted for more than a year against Jehovah’s Witnesses in the city of Tambov. During this time, investigators charged Pavel Stegachyov with violating Article 282(1) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on January 17, 2011. Although a local prosecutor recently decided [...]
For Immediate Release December 15, 2010 Court confirms that Moscow ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses was illegal STRASBOURG, France—The European Court of Human Rights ruled to protect religious freedom in Russia when it rendered its June 10, 2010, judgment in Jehovah’s Witnesses of Moscow v. Russia. Russia referred the case to the Grand Chamber of the [...]
For Immediate Release December 9, 2010 STRASBOURG, France—Yelena Novakovskaya, Yelena Chavychalova, and Mikhail and Larisa Cheprunov, residents of the Ryazan and Tambov regions, have filed three separate applications connected with arbitrary and groundless intrusions into their homes and the seizure of their personal belongings. Their religious convictions were the sole grounds for the actions. The [...]
For Immediate Release November 22, 2010 YEREVAN, Armenia—On November 24, 2010, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights will consider if the right to conscientious objection falls within the scope of freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Despite the willingness of the Applicant, Vahan Bayatyan, to perform genuine alternative civilian service, he [...]
For Immediate Release October 8, 2010 GORNO-ALTAYSK, Russia—On October 7, 2010, a preliminary hearing was held at the Gorno-Altaysk City Court in the criminal case against Aleksandr Kalistratov. Judge Marina Sokolovskaya scheduled the hearing of the case on its merits for October 20, 2010, at 9:00 a.m. Kalistratov was charged with inciting religious enmity because [...]