Conscientious objector Şendoğan Yazıcı convicted in two cases

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Conscientious objector Şendoğan Yazıcı has been convicted in two separate cases, the Conscientious Objection Association reported.

One of the cases was about his social media posts and the other was about his refusal to do compulsory military service.

He has been convicted for "alienating the people from military service" due to his posts on social media and for "violating the Military Service Law" because of his conscientious objection.

The Borkça Penal Court of First Instance sentenced Yazıcı to a total of 86 months in 149 days in prison and then converted the sentence to a monetary fine of 20,940 lira (2,494 USD).

Yazıcı told daily Evrensel that he will appeal the verdict. "There will be an appeal process, I will continue with all legal means to the end. I have applied to the Constitutional Court, I stated that I was sentenced to 'civilian death' by the law enforcement forces of the state."

He said that he had also filed a case with the Rize Administrative Court against the Ministry of National Defense on the grounds that his right to conscientious objection was not recognized.

Six lawsuits

Yazıcı noted that there are six cases against him and if those cases end similarly to these two cases, the monetary penalty against him will be multiplied by six.

Everytime he goes through an ID check, a new case is filed against him for being a draft evader, he said.

He added that Turkey should recognize the right to conscientious objection as per the European Convention on Human Rights and noted that international conventions should be applied in cases of conflict with national laws.

Yazıcı had announced his conscientious objection on June 26, 2010, becoming the 121st conscientious objector of Turkey.

"I am 36 years old. I am married with two children. I'm just one of millions of spouses trying to support their home and build a better future for their children," he had said. "However, I haven't done my military service yet. Because as a civilian, I never think that the so-called 'military service' is a duty, I declare that I exercise my right to 'conscientious objection'." (KÖ/VK)