Case of Tsaturyan v. Armenia (Application no. 37821/03)

Case of Tsaturyan v. Armenia (Application no. 37821/03)
Date: 
10/01/2012

The applicant is a Jehovah’s Witness. From 1997 he attended various Jehovah’s Witnesses religious services.(...)
The Court notes that it has already examined a similar complaint in the case of Bayatyan v. Armenia and concluded that the imposition of a penalty on the applicant, in circumstances where no allowances were made for the exigencies of his conscience and beliefs, could not be considered a measure necessary in a democratic society (see Bayatyan, cited above, §§ 124-125). In the present case, the applicant was similarly a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses who sought to be exempted from military service not for reasons of personal benefit or convenience but on the ground of his genuinely held religious convictions and the only reason why he was not able to do so and incurred criminal sanctions was the absence of such an opportunity.

Recognition of CO Recognised