Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Azerbaijan: Detention of Youth Activist Highlights Failure to Provide Alternative to Military Service

(30.03.2011) Sarah Paulsworth, University of Pittsburgh School of Law ’12, writes about the absence of alternative military service in Azerbaijan and of protections afforded to conscientious objectors (COs) under international law.

Azerbaijan imprisons conscientious objector

(20.10.2010) Baku, Azerbaijan - A three-judge panel of the Baku Court of Appeal upheld the Nasimi District Court’s conviction of conscientious objector Farid Mammedov. The court pronounced judgment on September 8, 2010, and immediately thereafter the 22-year-old was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs and taken to prison to serve a nine-month sentence.

Azerbaijan: Conscientious objector Farid Mammedov sentenced to nine months in prison

Call to write protest letters

(17.09.2010) War Resisters’ International has learned that conscientious objector Farid Mammedov was arrested on 8 September 2010, when his appeal against a prison sentence of nine months failed. As a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Farid Mammedov refuses military service for reasons of conscience.

22-year-old Farid Mammedov was sentenced on 16 July by the Baku Nasimi District Court under Criminal Code Article 321.1 to nine months imprisonment.