Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ A Russian religious conscientious objector with a one-year-old child has been sentenced to nearly three years' imprisonment for refusing a mobilisation order. The case illustrates how Russia's laws on conscientious objection are being ignored by the state. ⬇️

2/ Andrey K. is a 28-year-old air traffic controller from Magadan in the Russian Far East. When mobilisation was announced in September 2022, he was given a draft order and told he would serve as a mechanised rifleman, despite having a prior exemption from mobilisation.

3/ "The shift supervisor told me to come to the personnel department, they handed me a summons right away. No one explained anything, they didn't clarify anything, didn't conduct medical fitness examinations.

4/ "We [employees from the air traffic control centre] were gathered together, held until the evening and then taken out of town at night.

5/ "A representative from the military registration and enlistment office said that they would take us to Khabarovsk, sort out all the issues, leave the ones they needed, and send the rest home.

6/ "In the end, on the night of 23-24 September we were put on a plane and sent to Vladivostok. Those being dispatched were supposed to be booked, I was on the exemption list and was expecting to be sent home.

7/ "This did not happen. It turned out that the booking had already started after I had been drafted."

When Andrey arrived at his unit he was given a uniform and sent to basic training a couple of days later. It turned out to be *very* basic training.

8/ "The very first people who were sent to the war took two days to complete the training. I did not go through training. I cannot take up arms because of my beliefs [as a believer]. In the unit I was engaged in maintenance."

9/ He made it clear from the start that he would not go to war, despite the penalties. "I understood that I could be criminally liable for that, it was explained to us. But I had no choice. The case was brought against me in March.

10/ "I have been in the unit all this time and still am. Now we are waiting for the appeal. If the decision remains in force, then after the appeal I will go to a prison colony.

11/ "I am not the only refusenik here, there are 15 of us. The reasons for refusals are medical and beliefs, like mine.

12/ "One guy was also sentenced to two years and 10 months in a penal colony, even though he was classified D [not fit for military service] and had already been dismissed from his unit.

13/ "We also had a guy who had two meniscus tears. He moves around exclusively with a cane. Just yesterday [4 July] he also got 2 years and 10 months. It's inexplicable."

14/ Despite his treatment, Andrey says he doesn't regret his decision and won't leave Russia as he doesn't want to leave his family behind. "As a person of faith, I just can't take part in this. I couldn't do otherwise. My family and friends support me in my work."

15/ In theory, Russian law allows conscientious objectors to undertake alternative civilian service (ACS) such as paid work in hospitals or nursing homes. In practice, ACS is often treated as a form of punishment, with poor living conditions and low remuneration.

16/ Conscripts claiming conscientious objections can choose 21 months of ACS instead of 12 months in the army. This is supposedly guaranteed by Part 3 of Article 59 of the Russian Constitution and the Federal Law on Alternative Civilian Service.

17/ However, Russia's September 2022 mobilisation has effectively overriden both the Constitution and the existing law. Article 17 of the Mobilisation Act declares that the state may mobilise citizens who are in reserve and do not have the right to postpone service.

18/ It makes no exemption for religion and says nothing about ACS. Its only major exemption is for those who have a criminal record for specific serious crimes, but even that has been overriden with the recruitment of convicts by the Wagner Group and Russian MOD.

19/ Even before the war, 50% of applications for ACS were denied, according to the Movement of Conscientious Objectors (MCO). The MCO is being persecuted by the Russian government and was itself declared to be a 'foreign agent' on 23 June 2023. /end

Sources:
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🔹 https://t.co/ZMisu9cV74
🔹 https://t.co/5nOBNGlkWQ
🔹 https://t.co/HkTutyVOKwt.me/mozhemobyasnit…
ebco-beoc.org/russia
hrwf.eu/russia-conscie…
wri-irg.org/en/story/2023/…