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Ivanychivsky District Court in Volyn has sentenced a 46-year-old man to three years in prison for refusing to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine due to religious reasons. During the trial, the accused identified himself as a parishioner of the “Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
This is the man’s second conviction related to his refusal to serve. He received his first conviction in 1995 when he was sentenced to two years in prison for refusing compulsory military service.
According to the Ivanychivsky District Court’s verdict, on June 1, the man was handed a summons stating that he should report to the territorial recruitment center for military service within a week. He refused to accept the summons, following which an official report was drawn up against him, leading to a criminal case.
“At the trial, the man explained that he did not want to serve in the army for religious reasons. He and his family have been parishioners of the theocratic organization ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ throughout their lives. He attends meetings of this organization. According to the tenets of faith preached by the organization, he is not allowed to handle weapons and therefore refuses to comply with the military service call-up due to mobilization,” reads the explanation provided by the man in the verdict.
Another member of the “Jehovah’s Witnesses” testified in court as well. She stated that their local organization is not registered on Ukrainian territory, and parishioners gather “in various premises.” She couldn’t recall how often the accused attended meetings, although the man himself admitted that he attended them infrequently after the invasion began.
The judge found the man guilty of violating Article 336 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code (evasion of conscription) and sentenced him to the minimum penalty prescribed under this article – three years in prison.
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