Christian soldier beaten, imprisoned

[Amelia]

Christian soldier beaten, imprisoned

Punished for sharing faith, literature with colleagues

April 16, 2005

By Michael Ireland

Assist News Service

Baptist conscript Gagik Mirzoyan -- who is conducting unarmed service in the army of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic -- has been beaten and punished with more than 10 days in detention since the beginning of April for sharing his faith with other soldiers and possessing several Christian calendars.

Felix Corley, writing for Forum 18 News Service, says Mirzoyan's relatives and friends told Forum 18 from Nagorno-Karabakh Thursday that before being transferred to an unknown location, Mirzoyan was threatened with a prison sentence of two years.

Nagorno-Karabakh is disputed terrority that lies between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the former Soviet Union.

Forum 18 says it has been unable to reach V. Davidov, commanding officer of Mirzoyan's former unit in Nagorno-Karabakh's south-eastern Hadrut region, to find out why he ordered or allowed one of his troops to be beaten and detained merely for expressing his faith and possessing religious calendars.

"Forum 18 also tried to find out from the defense ministry why Mirzoyan has been punished, but an official at the ministry told Forum 18 from the capital Stepanakert yesterday that the minister, General Seyran Ohanyan, was out of the office and that no-one else was immediately available. Telephones also went unanswered at Nagorno-Karabakh's foreign ministry," Corley writes in his report.

Corley said that on Monday, relatives and friends went to military unit 42009 in Hadrut to see Mirzoyan after hearing that he had been beaten and given 10 days of detention at the guardhouse.

"When we got there he had already been held under arrest for 12 days but still had not been freed," they told Forum 18.

They reported that when they were able to see Mirzoyan, the "results of beatings" were visible on his face. Military personnel at the base told the visitors Mirzoyan would be freed the following day, Tuesday, and they would then be able to talk to him.

Corley writes: "Despite these promises, Mirzoyan continued to be detained and during the day was threatened by the head of the unit's political department and by an official of the prosecutor's office that a case against him would be drawn up, handed to the prosecutor's office and he would be sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Forum 18 has been unable to discover what charges are being or might be levelled against Mirzoyan."

Mirzoyan's relatives and friends told Forum 18, "Through the grace of God we were later able to have a 10-minute meeting with brother Gagik and discovered that he is being persecuted for preaching the Gospel and because they found several Christian calendars in his possession. Now he has been taken away to an unknown destination and they are not saying where he is and what has happened to him."

Mirzoyan was called up in December, Corley said.

Corley writes: "After refusing to serve with weapons and swear the military oath because of his faith Mirzoyan was beaten and pressured by the commander of the unit to which he was transferred and Fr. Petros Yezegyan, the unit's Armenian Apostolic military chaplain. Both the defence minister, General Ohanyan, and Fr. Yezegyan emphatically denied to Forum 18 that Mirzoyan had been beaten."

The army later agreed that Mirzoyan could serve in a non-combat role and he was transferred to the unit in Hadrut region, Corley reported.

According to Corley: "Nagorno-Karabakh has no provision for alternative service for those who have religious or other conscientious objections to participating in the armed forces. On Feb. 16 a court in Stepanakert handed down a four-year prison term to Areg Hovhanesyan, a Jehovah's Witness who had refused to serve because of his faith but had expressed a willingness to perform an alternative civilian service.