Jehovah’s Witnesses

For Immediate Release
November 21, 2001

Appeal against Jehovah’s Witness adjourned again

YEREVAN, Armenia—Today in the Appeal Court of the Republic of Armenia the trial of Lyova Margaryan continued. He is accused under an archaic Khrushchev-era law of practicing his religious beliefs as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The gray-haired father of three stood before the three-member appeal court and stated: “Despite a resounding verdict of not guilty from the judge in the court of first instance, the prosecutor’s harassment that my family and I have been subject to for the last year continues.”

Mr. Margaryan also referred to the implication that the Armenian State Security and the Prosecutor’s Office fabricated evidence in the first trial. Witnesses for the prosecution had testified that their written statements had been dictated to them by officials of the Security Ministry, the former KGB.

If the prosecution is successful with its appeal, Mr. Margaryan faces up to five years in prison. Even if not imprisoned, conviction would bar him from continuing at his place of employment at a power plant. He and his family would then be evicted from his place of residence, which his employer provides.

International and nongovernmental organizations have criticized Armenia’s policy of refusing to register Jehovah’s Witnesses and then charging a member with practicing the beliefs of an “unregistered religion.”

The appeal hearing was adjourned until Monday, November 26, 2001, at 12:00 noon, when the prosecution is expected to cross-examine Mr. Margaryan.

Contact: J. R. Brown, telephone: (718) 560-5600