Volgograd Regional Court denies pacifist's right to alternative service

Mark Belyansky, a Volgograd resident, tried to defend his right to the alternative civilian service (ACS), but the court has rejected all the pacifist's arguments.

Mark Belyansky is 20 years old; during his studies he had a deferment from conscription into the army. In June this year, his studies ended, but he submitted an application to the military commissariat (registration and enlistment office) well in advance asking to replace his conscription military service with the ACS. However, the drafting commission concluded that Mark had violated the deadline for submitting his application. In August, he tried to challenge the decision of the drafting commission, but the district court sided with the latter.

"My pacifist views are similar to Buddhism, I believe in a kind of karma ... I don't think I could serve in the army," Mark has stated.

Sergey Krivenko*, the head of the human rights group "Citizen. Army. Law", a former member of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, has noted that earlier they used to receive some 10-15 such requests to the hotline on the issues related to the ACS, and after the start of the special military operation (SMO) their number increased 10 times.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in September a court in Volgograd refused to satisfy the complaint lodged by the conscript, Danila Khamidulin, who had asked to replace his military service for the ACS due to his religious beliefs.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.