For Immediate Release
July 23, 2002

Turkmenistan court repeats prison term for Jehovah's Witness

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan—On July 2, 2002, a Turkmenistan court sentenced Nikolai Shelekhov to a repeat prison term for his conscientious objection to military service. Shelekhov, 21 years of age, is one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

A judge of the President Niyazov District Court in Ashgabat ignored Shelekhov's request for alternative civilian service and ordered imprisonment for one and a half years. This was the second time that Shelekhov was sentenced to prison for conscientious objection to military service. He was previously imprisoned for the same offense under Article 291-1 of the Criminal Code of Turkmenistan. Present at the court hearing was a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Turkmenistan is a member state of the OSCE.

Member states of the OSCE, in their laws or in their Constitution, recognize the right to alternative civilian service. For example, the Russian Constitutional Court has protected the constitutional right of one of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia to refuse compulsory military service and choose alternative civilian service.

"The decision of the court in Shelekhov's case is arbitrary and harsh," said Russian lawyer Artur Leontyev. "A conscientious objector is subjected to a revolving prison door. Once he serves his prison term, he is brought back to court and returns to prison for the same offense. This violates all norms of international human rights and OSCE standards."

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