Human rights defenders surprised by lawsuit of dismissed contract soldier in Chechnya

Contract soldier Magomed Elemkhanov, who lost in Grozny a trial in the case on his dismissal for refusing to go to the special military operation zone, had the right by the law not to participate in battles outside of Russia, but after the annexation of new territories to Russia, a soldier who refuses to go there can face criminal prosecution, a lawyer and human rights defenders note. They called atypical the desire of the contract soldier to be reinstated in the service, taking into account such changes.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that the Grozny garrison military court refused to reinstate Magomed Elemkhanov in the service, who was dismissed after he had failed to comply with the order to leave “for a business trip to perform service and combat missions.”

The court’s decision was criticized by Artyom Mugunyants, a lawyer from the “Anti-Conscription” community, The lawyer emphasizes that the Magomed Elemkhanov’s refusal to go to the special military operation zone dates back to the time when Russia had not yet included the new territories in its composition.

However, after the inclusion of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR, respectively) and the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions into Russia, the situation with the described refusals has changed, and a refusal to participate in the hostilities in the above-mentioned territories entails a more severe punishment than dismissal, Artyom Mugunyants emphasizes.

Sergey Krivenko, the director of the “Citizen. Army. Law”* human rights group, agrees that before the decision was made to include the DPR, LPR and the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions in Russia, contract soldiers could refuse to serve there, but now this is impossible according to the law. Sergey Krivenko confirms that contractors are now often seeking dismissal from the service, and not reinstatement.

*The organization is included in the register of NCOs acting as foreign agents.