members of the Religious Sect “Jehovah’s Witnesses”, the Royal Kerimov brothers and Seymour Mammadov, arrested for refusing to serve in the Azerbaijani army, are released from custody by the decision of the Ganjin Court of Appeal.
It was previously reported that the Azerbaijani court rejected the request of Seymour Mamedov to appoint him to an alternative civil service. He was convicted and sentenced to nine months in prison on September 22, 2022. On December 12, 2022, the Ganzhinsky Court of Appeal decided to change the sentence from imprisonment on a suspended sentence. Although now Seymour is free, he appeals to the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan with a request to cancel the sentence.
Royal Kerimov received the agenda on May 30, 2022, but refused military service to reasons of conscience and asked him to appoint an alternative civil service. On July 25, 2022, he was arrested by the military authorities, kept in the barracks and released on November 1, 2022.