Turkish Cypriot conscientious objector Halil Karapaşaoğlu was sentenced to three days in prison for refusing to pay a fine related to his mobilisation call, Yeni Duzen reported on Thursday.
This marks Karapaşaoğlu’s second trial in the occupied north for defying the call-up. He initially declared his conscientious objection in 2013 and faced military court trials until 2019.
In 2019, he received a fine, but his refusal to pay led to a 20-day prison sentence. This was later reduced to three nights and four days in prison by a higher court citing human rights concerns.
Murat Kanatlı of the Conscientious Objection Initiative criticised the ruling, highlighting the hypocrisy of officials who advocate for human rights in European forums but fail to implement relevant European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decisions domestically.
Karapaşaoğlu’s lawyer, Öncel Pili, vowed to continue the fight for conscientious objector rights despite the imprisonment.
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conscientious objector. Turkish Cypriot, conscientious objector, prison sentence