Azerbaijani lawyers state legal grounds for searching Dagestani conscripts

The declaring former Azerbaijani citizens, now living in Dagestan, as wanted is legal, if they had deserted prior to taking Russian citizenship, Azerbaijani lawyers believe. The state mobilization service has added that deviationists are not exempted from responsibility, when they change their citizenship.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Asim Ragimov and Almir Akhmedov, former citizens of Azerbaijan, who had received Russian citizenship and now live in Dagestan, complained about the demands to them of Azerbaijani military commissariats to take their regular military service. According to their version, they are wanted in Azerbaijan and, therefore, cannot visit their parents.

A source from the State Migration Service (SMS) of Azerbaijan has explained that citizens of Azerbaijan, who have received the citizenship of another state, must, within a month, notify the respective Azerbaijani embassy or consulate about the fact.

If a citizen is registered as a draftable, and there is no official information about his loss of Azerbaijani citizenship, he must pass the army service, the state service for mobilization and conscription has noted.

The lawyer Elmar Suleimanov has noted that the Criminal Codes of both Azerbaijan and Russia provides for responsibility for desertion.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.