ECtHR imposes €112,000 fine on Armenia over Jehova=?UTF-8?B?4oCZ?=s Witnesses=?UTF-8?B?4oCZIA==?=case

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has imposed a fine of €112,000 on the Armenian authorities over a ruling against conscientious objectors.
According to the Court's official website, the applicants in Khachatryan and Others v. Armenia are 19 Armenian nationals who are Jehovah's Witnesses. Having applied to the authorities to perform alternative labor service instead of military service on religious grounds under the 2004 Alternative Service Act, they were each assigned to perform the service in various institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes and dispensaries. In May and June 2005, they respectively informed those institutions that, since the alternative service was under the control of the military, they could not continue to serve in good conscience, and subsequently left their places of service.
Placed in detention for several months following criminal proceedings brought against them for abandoning their service institutions – which had eventually been discontinued – 17 of the applicants complained that they had been detained for an act which had not constituted an offence at the time, in breach of Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Further relying in particular on Article 5 § 5 (right to compensation for unlawful detention) they complained that they had been denied compensation for their unlawful detention.
Under the ruling, the authorities are to pay € 6,000 (non-pecuniary damage) to each of the 17applicants and EUR 10,000 (costs and expenses) jointly to the 17 applicants.
Commenting on the decision, Armenian military expert Arkadi Grigoryan said the Court's ruling, which actually encourages those evading the military, places the issue on a different platform.
"I am very sorry that those adhering to European values do not perceive our situation, and encourage representatives of dissident organizations," he told Tert.am.
Speaking to our reporter, a spokesperson for Armenia's Ministry of Defense, Artsrun Hovhannisyan, expressed concerns that people in Armenia may resort to such steps, abandoning their role in Armenia's security.
Since January 2007, the ECtHR ruling have caused the Armenian Government to pay a total of over €200,000 to claimants at the expanse of the taxpaers. Another €40,000, imposed on the authorities under recent rulings, has yet to be paid.   Read more... (365 words)

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