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April 5, 2000
European Court of Human Rights to announce decision on conscientious objection case Thursday
The European Court of Human Rights will deliver its judgment on the case of Thlimmenos v. Greece at 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 6, 2000, in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, France. The case involves a conscientious objector who was denied employment in his chosen profession because he had previously been convicted for refusing to perform military service.
With this case, the European Court is called upon to readdress the issue of conscientious objection for religious reasons and the penalties imposed on conscientious objectors. The decision would apply to all citizens of the 41 states that are members of the Council of Europe.
In Greece, the decision will affect the more than 3,500 Jehovah’s Witnesses who have been convicted in the last 30 years for their conscientious objection. All now have criminal records because of their refusal to serve in the armed forces for religious reasons. As a result, they have been refused employment in civil service and banking, have been denied merchants' licenses, and have been deprived of certain civil rights.
“Many of the male Jehovah’s Witnesses in Greece are considered second-class citizens because of this unjust criminal record,” said Babis Andreopoulos, spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Greece. “A favorable decision would force the state of Greece to clean all these records and therefore accept that these people have fulfilled their obligation to the state as conscientious objectors and should have the same status as those who now serve in the civilian service. It should not be a crime to have refused military service for religious reasons.”
Thlimmenos v. Greece is the fourth case involving Jehovah’s Witnesses in Greece and military conscription issues to be heard by the European Court. Greece instituted an arrangement for alternative civilian service in 1997, shortly after the European Court released its decision in favor of the Witnesses in the three earlier cases.
In 1983, the Permanent Court Martial of Athens, Greece, found Iakovos Thlimmenos, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, guilty of insubordination for refusing to enlist in the army. In 1989, the executive board of the Greek chartered accountants refused to appoint him as a chartered accountant because of the criminal charge, even though he had passed the relevant qualifying exam. Thlimmenos appealed the decision, but his appeal was finally rejected on June 28, 1996, by the Council of State, Greece’s highest administrative court. The European Court of Human Rights heard the case on December 1, 1999.
Contact: J. R. Brown, telephone: (718) 560-5600