Forcible draft of young leaders found legal

The court of Pershamajski district of Minsk hasn’t granted an appeal of young activist Zmitser Khvedaruk against illegal actions of army representatives during his forcible draft.

Judge Natallya Petukh put a question point-blank: can the expiry of one-month term for processing of a complaint be a reason for examination of the claim? Zmitser Khvedaruk’s defense attorneys offered a number of arguments proving that since Zmitser’s forcible draft he was either in a hospital, or underwent medical examination, Radio Svaboda informs.

He didn’t have an opportunity to get into an argument with military enlistment office at the same period. Opponents, representatives of the draft commission and medical commission, insisted that any claims against them were groundless. As a result, the court didn’t grant the appeal of Khvedaruk. The Trial lasted for 6 hours.

Meanwhile, the representative of the medical commission Alyaksandr Valoshyn didn’t that disagree that Khvedaruk was ill. However, he insisted that the young man still can serve with such a “bunch of disease”, under the condition that physical load is limited for him.

“He is not healthy. The second inter-district commission has diagnosed four illnesses and stated their stages. They have been defined according to the generally accepted medical classification. But despite of these diseases, he was found able-bodied in a certain category. The commission hasn’t stated he is a healthy person.

He is fully right stating he suffers from headaches. It is his subjective state with the right name. And it’s true he suffers from pain in his vertebral column. That is why the commission which checked his fitness for service never stated he is health person,” Alyaksandr Valoshyn noted.

Zmitser Khvedaruk says that from the beginning of the court the position of representatives of the draft commission hasn’t changed considerably and was somewhat predictable.

“The position of people who were involved in the case as witnesses or defendants hasn’t changed fundamentally. They still deny the fact of my rights’ violation and violation of all procedures during the draft. But two days before the trial some details of their evidence changed. They have made them more precise. They seem to check some articles of the law or they have noticed these details nailed them to the wall in the court yesterday,” the young leader said.

Zmitser Khvedaruk also says that he has spent almost all the time in hospitals in the last 2.5 months.

“Right now I am undergoing treatment in a medical squadron in Pechy. In fact, I have never performed my military duty over all the time here: I have never kept guard or was on duty. I haven’t done anything useful except peeling potatoes,” he said.

As we have informed, on January 28 Zmitser Khvedaruk was detained at home and forcibly taken to the military enlistment office and then guarded to the prison in Akrestsin Street. After two days doctors found his fit for service. And in the end of February Khvedaruk was operated on varicose veins. Besides, a renal cyst was found. He was taken to the court from hospital under guard.

Some other young opposition activists were forcibly drafted at about the same time. Among them were the leader of the Young Front Franak Vyachorka and one of the leaders of Salihorsk branch of the Young Front Ivan Shyla.