Conscientious objection to military service again: Enver Aydemir v Turkey

Background

In 2007 Enver Aydemir refused to do compulsory military service on grounds of conscience. He was taken by force to the Bilecik gendarmerie station, where he refused to put on a military uniform and obey orders from his superior. In July 2007 he was taken into pre-trial detention and, subsequently, two sets of criminal proceedings were instituted against him for persistent disobedience. In September 2007 he was provisionally released but did not return to his regiment: as a result, he was regarded as a deserter.

On 24 December 2009, he was arrested. A military court ordered his pre-trial detention and he was taken to Maltepe military prison. He claimed that he was beaten up by the prison warders and obliged to spend the night in a cell, naked. In August 2011 he was sentenced to imprisonment for persistent disobedience. Various proceedings were brought against him, and an appeal against a sentence of 10 months’ imprisonment is currently pending before the Military Court of Cassation. Continue reading