¹⁴ Armenia. Vahan Bayatyan became eligible for compulsory military service in 2001.d He conscientiously objected to serving in the military but lost every appeal in the domestic courts. In September 2002, he began serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence but was released after serving ten and a half months. During that time, he appealed to the ECHR, which heard his case. However, on October 27, 2009, that Court also ruled against him. The verdict seemed to be a crushing blow to the brothers in Armenia who faced this issue. However, the Grand Chamber of the ECHR reviewed the ruling. On July 7, 2011, the Court ruled in favor of Vahan Bayatyan. This was the first time that the ECHR recognized that conscientious objection to military service based on one’s religious beliefs should be protected under the right of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. That ruling protects the rights not only of Jehovah’s Witnesses but of hundreds of millions of people in countries that are members of the Council of Europe.e