Conscientious Objector Aru Fined 3,000 TL

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Tavşanlı 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance has sentenced conscientious objector İnan Mayıs Aru to six months in prison on charge of draft evasion.

The court has reduced his sentence to five months and converted the prison sentence to a fine of 3,000 TL (684 Euros).

The court's reasoned decision will be issued later.

According to a report on vicdaniret.org (conscientious objection), İnan Mayıs Aru, his family and the Co-Chair of Conscientious Objection Association Attorney Gökhan Soysal attended the hearing.

In his statement of defence, İnan Mayıs Aru said that he was not a draft evader but a conscientious objector and added that he would under no circumstances do military service.

Reminding that he had been abroad when the lawsuit was filed against him, Aru pointed out that he had returned to Turkey although he had the opportunity to not to do so and that he would stick with his attitude and would not take any action regarding military service.

İnan Mayıs Aru's attorney and Co-Chair of Conscientious Objection Association Attorney Gökhan Soysal submitted the previous decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeals to underline that conscientious objection was a right acknowledged by international human rights conventions.

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Attorney Soysal added that the court had to rule taking these decisions into consideration and had to order Aru's release.

Aru and his attorney said that they would challenge this decision before the appellate court and noted that conscientious objectors cannot be convicted for acting within the scope of the freedom of conscious. (EKN/DG)