Religion – Weltanschauung – Recht [ RWR ]

The applicant, Marina Hamzayan, is an Armenian national who was born in 1980 and lives in Yerevan. The case concerns an administrative penalty that the applicant, a Jehovah’s Witness, was given by the authorities of the unrecognised “Nagorno Karabakh Republic”, for having a religious conversation with somebody, not a Jehovah’s Witness, in that person’s home.

Relying on Articles 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights, the applicant complains that being given an administrative penalty for a peaceful discussion of a religious text constituted an unlawful and disproportionate interference with her right to freedom of religion. She maintains that she was discriminated against by the authorities as she was treated differently to the followers of officially registered religions.

• Violation of Article 9

Just satisfaction

• non-pecuniary damage: € 3,000,–
• costs and expenses: € 1,000,–

Press release ECHR 25 (2024) 06.02.2024