Such issues will be decided by the court on an individual basis.
those who lived in temporarily occupied territories and were forcibly mobilized into the Russian army can avoid responsibility.
In response to a request from the ZMINA publication, the head of the department of the prosecutor's office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, Yegor Rebrov, said that such persons can voluntarily surrender by contacting the state project of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War “I Want to Live” “.
Those who were forcibly mobilized can avoid prosecution if the fact of coercion is proven in court.
“The presence of evidence that coercion was carried out against a person may be the basis for not bringing such a person to criminal liability. At the same time, the legislation of Ukraine does not define a clear list of such grounds,” says the response signed by Rebrov.
The official noted that issues of bringing Ukrainian citizens to criminal liability for participating in hostilities as part of the Russian army “are resolved individually in each case, taking into account all the circumstances established in criminal proceedings.” The guilt of an individual is determined by the court based on an examination of evidence that the judge considers sufficient.
The prosecutor's office noted that according to international humanitarian law, an aggressor state is prohibited from forcing the population of an occupied territory to serve in its armed forces. It is also prohibited to exert pressure and conduct propaganda in favor of voluntary joining the occupation army, because this violates Art. 51 of the Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention).
Instead, Russia constantly violates international law and threatens TOT residents with criminal liability for “evasion” and conducts raids to serve summonses. At the same time, enterprise managers are involved in forced mobilization, threatening workers with dismissal for refusing to serve in the Russian armed forces.