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GR12008-210508
Greece: Conscientious objector Lazaros Petromelidis sentenced to three years imprisonment in absentia
On 20 May, Greece conscientious
objector Lazaros Petromelidis has again been sentenced in absentia to
three years imprisonment on two charges of insubordination by the Naval
Court of Piraeus. This means that there is again an arrest warrant for
Lazaros Petromelidis, and he is in imminent danger of imprisonment.
Lazaros Petromelidis' case has a history of more than 15 years. He
declared his conscientious objection in March 1992, at a time when
Greece did not recognise the right to conscientious objection. He has
been passed through a dozen trials and has been jailed 3 times. Further
information on his case is available at http://wri-irg.org/co/cases/petromelidis-en.htm.
The new sentence is in contradiction to Article 14 paragraph 7 of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: "No one
shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which
he has been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law
and penal procedure of each country." Therefore, War Resisters'
International calls for the suspension of his sentence.
War Resisters' International calls on people to send protest e-mails
via: http://wri-irg.org/co/alerts/20080521a.html
or letters to: Mr. Kostas Karamanlis, Prime Minister of Greece Maximos
Mansion ('Megaro Maximou') 19, Herodou Attikou str GR-106 74 Athens
(info@primeminister.gr)
Andreas Speck
War Resisters' International
wri-irg.org