CO Alerts letter form

NOTE: This message is for archival purposes only. Posting function has been disabled.

Use this form to send the letter below to the relevant authority (Kostas Karamanlis, prime minister of Greece). You can add your own notes in a separate box after the standard text, if you wish.
You must include a name, address, and email address; a copy will be sent to you with a cc to the WRI office and to Lazaros Petromelidis.

Standard text for letter of appeal:

With this letter we wish to express our strong protest for the new prosecution against Lazaros Petromelidis, Chairman of the Association of Greek Conscientious Objectors, on the pretense of draft evasion.
A prosecution that is unacceptable for many reasons.
First in the case of Lazaros Petromelidis conscription authorities and military justice have outreached every previous case on arbitrary restrictive readings of the provisions made by the law 2510/97.
Moreover, because Lazaros Petromelidis is still prosecuted on the excuse that he declined to perform alternative civilian service, hence he lost conscientious objector's status and as a consequence he is obliged to perform military service.
The above mentioned excuse is a pretense for the following reasons:
*	Lazaros Petromelidis declined to perform his alternative service as he was asked to serve for a period of time longer than seven and a half times the time that we would serve if he had chosen to perform military service (30 months of alternative service against 4 months of military service, due to his age and family conditions).
*	Lazaros Petromelidis had stressed that those objectors, who were obliged to full military service, were called up for an alternative service twice the time of the military one and demanded that his right to an equal treatment should be respected by the administration.
*	That his request is rightful has been recognized by the actions of your government, with the decision of the Minister of National Defense, that provides that conscientious objectors could serve for a period of time twice, minus one month, the length of their respective military obligation.
For all the above-mentioned reasons Amnesty International has adopted Lazaros Petromelidis as a person prosecuted for reasons of conscience. Since the responsible for these matters Minister has repeatedly denied meeting with the Association of Greek Conscientious Objectors we ask you:
*	To intervene for the immediate ceasing of the reasonless and revengeful prosecutions against Lazaros Petromelidis.
*	To look after for an amnesty for those that have been declared draft evaders before the law 2510/97 has been voted in the Parliament and for the settlement of their cases -Greece is the only country that recognized the right to conscientious objection to military service without providing in the respective legislation an amnesty for those who were prosecuted.
With regards

NOTE: This message is for archival purposes only. Posting function has been disabled.