Malpractice of military offices: 1.5 years of personal restraint for evasion from medical examination

In late March, the Minsk District Court found a young draftee, citizen of the Minsk district, guilty of evading from the military service and punished him with 1.5 years of personal restraint with sending him to an open correctional facility.

As reported to tut.by by a prosecutor of the Minsk Regional Prosecutor's Office Maksim Aheyenka, the youngster didn't come for medical examination at the Minsk District Military Enlistment Office referring to the absence of money for the journey.

According to Mr. Aheyenka, the specified reason is not valied, as a result of which the draftee was charged under Article 435, part 1 of the Criminal Code (evasion from drafting).

Traditionally, during the drafting the military enlistment offices instigate hundreds of criminal cases against the draftees for alleged evasion from drafting, and pass these cases to investigative committees. The fact that some of the draftees haven't even signed for receiving the appropriate writs, is ignored.

For instance, according to the website of the campaign for alternative civilian service in Belarus, http://ags.by, during the draft campaign in February 68 criminal case were brought against draftees in Minsk under Article 435, part 1 of the Criminal Code, and 125 more cases were dropped by the prosecutor's office due to the absence of reasons for their initiation.