Recently, many young people over the age of 18 have been using various methods of evading military service. Violations of this type are constantly being detected, despite the fact that information about the seriousness of the sanctions applied to draft evaders, including criminal liability, is freely available.
Legal consequences for violators
Russian law provides for various types of liability for evading military and alternative civilian service. Sanctions for appropriate actions apply in accordance with Article 31 of Federal Law No. 53, issued in March 1998, which governs the specifics of military service and duties of the military, as well as in accordance with the norms of the administrative and criminal codes.
These acts establish that deliberate non-receipt of the summons for the draft is already an offense. According to the provisions of Article 4 of Federal Law No. 53, the following acts of adult male citizens are evasion of draft in the army:
- failure to appear at military-type events that are directly related to the draft;
- concealment of data on the place of work and study of a draftee;
- change of residence to not receive the summons.
If the employees of the military registration and enlistment office, having information about the place of residence, training and work of the young man, cannot find him, they will attract police officers to search. In this case, sanctions are not applied to the draftee.
If it is clearly established that the concealment of information about the whereabouts or other information about a person occurs intentionally, the perpetrator is at risk of responsibility for evading military service.
Types of Crime
According to the Decree of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of April 2008, the deliberate actions committed by a young citizen, which pursue the goal of not serving in the army, are evasion from receiving a document for draft in the army.
Confirmations of actions to evade military service are repeated refusals to appear at the commissariat in the absence of a valid reason for more than one period of conscription.
If the reasons for refusing to visit the military registration and enlistment office are valid, after the expiration of their validity the conscript must appear at the commissariat. Otherwise, he will also face punishment for evading military service.
Violations in the field of military service also include failure to inform the draft board staff about a change of place of residence, training or work.
Limits of liability of a criminal nature
In Art. 328 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the following sizes of sanction measures for evading military service are established:
- payment of a fine of up to 200,000 rubles, or the income of the offender for 1.5 years;
- forced labor up to 2 years;
- arrest up to six months;
- imprisonment up to 2 years.
If a citizen evades the alternative type of service, he may be brought to one of these types of responsibility or to compulsory labor activity for 20 days.
Administrative and criminal liability
The imposition of punishment for evading military service is entirely within the competence of the court.
If a citizen did not register in a timely manner or did not inform the military registration and enlistment office about a change of residence, place of study or work, he faces administrative liability.
According to the norms of Article 21.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, sanctions are imposed for failure to appear in the commissariat of the following categories of citizens:
- Young people registered with the military registration and enlistment office and received the established document - the agenda.
- Men who are subject to registration or removal from it at certain times.
- Young people who are absent from their place of residence for a period of three months or who are outside the country for more than six months without notice to the military enlistment office.
For these violations, citizens can be held liable in the form of a fine of a maximum of 500 rubles. If a young man refuses to present a document for passing a medical commission or does not appear on it, a fine is also imposed on him in accordance with article 21.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
Penalties for conscripts are also governed by criminal law. Data on the types and limits of punishment under Art. 328 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in relation to evaders are in the public domain along with a list of actions that may qualify as criminal offenses.
Persons who have committed administrative offenses on multiple occasions bear criminal liability, even if the statute of limitations has expired.
In the course of the investigation of the case, the court checks whether the young man had previously carried out actions that could qualify as evasion of army service. If these circumstances are confirmed, the citizen will be prosecuted under the criminal article.
Punishment also applies to individuals who attempted to avoid military service by injuring, imitating a disease, or providing false documents.
The criminal sanctions applicable to draft dodgers are as follows:
- imposition of a fine of up to 200,000 rubles;
- forced labor for 2 years;
- arrest for up to six months;
- 2 years imprisonment.
Types of Evasion Sanctions
Different types of evasion of military service are subject to different sanctions. The most common penalty. It is considered the most effective and at the same time not as serious as possible.
Since a fine can amount to 200,000 rubles for a serious violation or can be calculated as the convict’s income for a month and a half, such a sanction has a serious impact on the financial situation of a citizen, and therefore motivates the violators quite strongly.
The main alternative penalty is social work. Its term is determined independently by the judge, based on the circumstances of the case, but should not exceed 2 years. That is, the period of punishment for refusing service may be twice as long as being in the army.
A less common punishment is arrest. Its use is limited to six months. Despite the short duration of the sanction, it causes a number of negative consequences: increased control by law enforcement agencies, problems with further employment, and the preservation of the obligation to serve regardless of the sentence served.
Deprivation of liberty is applied less often, and only in relation to especially malicious violators.
Alternative Service Passage
Citizens are also held accountable for evading alternative service. The possibility of performing alternative military service is provided only to persons who, due to their health or other valid reasons, cannot join the army on a common basis.
The size of the fine for draft dodgers may reach 80,000 in rubles or a semi-annual salary of a citizen. In some cases, a fine is replaced with 480 hours of compulsory labor.
Evasion of attending military training
A fine of 500 rubles may be imposed on a citizen for evading military service (in particular, for refusing to attend military training). Most employed people do not want to lose working time at training camps and pay a fine instead of performing a direct duty.
At the same time, legal norms allow the possibility of removal of an employee if he did not appear in time for mobilization events. This is due to the obligation of the employer to provide the employee with the specified time for attending fees while maintaining salary. Suspension of truant can last until he comes to mobilization.
The law also states that draft dodgers may be fined by the employer, the maximum amount of which may be 60,000 rubles.
Bribes to officials
One of the most serious violations in the field of military service is the bribery of officials. Most often, the amount requested by the employees of the military enlistment office is 200,000 rubles - the amount of the fine for evading service.
According to the Criminal Code, evading military service in the form of giving bribes entails a higher level of responsibility, since the very fact of bribing an official is a serious offense. In addition, if a crime is detected, responsibility will be borne not only by the evader, but also by the recipient of funds.
Reasons for legal exemption from military service
The following facts relate to the reasons for legal exemption from military service:
- Training in an educational institution (full-time).
- The presence of a pregnant wife with a long gestation, children under three years old, raising a child with a disability, caring for a sick relative.
- Bad health.
- Homosexual.
- The status of a public servant or inventor.
Periodically, some young people try to do everything possible to not serve in the army, despite the fact that some sanctions last longer than the duration of military service.