Conscientious Objector Receives 15 Months of Prison

Sivas Province Military Court convicted conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan of “disobedience to orders”, ordering him to serve 15 months of prison and pay a fine of 9,000 liras. 

“The military court’s ruling is both against the constitution and rulings issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). We will appeal to this,” Tarhan told KaosGL. 

Timeline of events

Announcing his conscientious objector in 2001, Mehmet Tarhan was detained on 8 April 2005 in the western province of Izmir and sent to a military barracks in Tokat province. 

On August 10, 2005, he was convicted to 4 years of prison for disobedience. In October of the same year, he started a hunger strike after being forced to cut his hair and facial hair. In November 2005, Military Court of Cessation overturned the ruling. 

Later on, Tarhan submitted a complaint to ECHR, saying that he was forced to cut his hair and facial as well as beaten by other soldiers.  

In July 2012, ECHR found Turkey guilty of violating European Declaration of Human Rights Articles 3 and 9, ordering Turkey to pay Tarhan 10,000 euros.  

On November 22, 2011, ECHR also found Turkey guilty in the case of Yunus Erçep, a Jehovah witness who refused military service for religious reasons. In that case, ECHR found that Turkey violated Article 9 on freedom to thought, conscious and faith. (EKN/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.