U.S. Religious Body Calls On Azerbaijan To Release Jehovah's Witness

"We are disturbed by reports that a local court in Azerbaijan has sentenced Jehovah's Witness Seymur Mammadov to nine months in prison for his conscientious objection to mandatory military service," the U.S. religious freedom body USCIRF's Vice Chair Abraham Cooper said in a tweet on Tuesday.

Mammadov, 22, is reportedly imprisoned for refusing to serve in the military on religious grounds. On September 22, the Goranboy District Court sentenced him to nine months in prison for "evasion without the lawful grounds from next appeal on military service or from an appeal on mobilization, with a purpose of evasion from serving in military," according to media reports.

"This is a worrying development we hope the Azerbaijani government will rectify immediately by releasing Seymur Mammadov, ceasing harassment of Jehovah's Witnesses and permitting conscientious objection as provided in the country's constitution." Nury Turkel, the USCIRF chair, said in a separate tweet.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.