HADRUT, Nagorno-Karabakh — Military leaders in the politically unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, located in southwestern Azerbaijan along the border with Armenia, have successfully appealed to the courts for Gagik Mirzoyan to be sent to prison after receiving a suspended prison sentence in July. On Sept. 5, Hadrut district court imprisoned the embattled Baptist conscript for one year for refusing to handle weapons or swear the military oath on grounds of religious faith.
The court told Mirzoyan that if he declared then and there he would swear the oath, then it would free him and send him back to his unit. “Gagik responded that he couldn’t do so as the Bible doesn’t allow it,” a fellow Baptist reported. “He was sentenced and police took him away immediately.”
Two Jehovah’s Witnesses have also been sentenced to prison in Nagorno-Karabakh this year for refusing compulsory military service because of their religious convictions.
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