The Rakhiv District Court sentenced Nikita Pershin - a native of Melitopol and the elder of the Jehovah Witnesses in Ukraine to three years of imprisonment. The reason was the evasion of mobilization from religious beliefs, which the court found it illegal in the context of martial law.
According to the sentence of May 27, the Parshin moved from temporarily occupied Melitopol to Transcarpathia after a full -scale invasion of the Russian Federation. In November 2024, he passed the Military Medical Commission, was declared suitable for service and received a combat summons. However, the army did not appear, explaining it with his religious beliefs.
In court, the man stated that he belongs to Jehovah's Witnesses since 2008, and since 2022 he is officially an elder. He argued that religion forbids him to take his arms and participate in hostilities. Parshin also recalled that in 2015 he had already passed an alternative (non -military) service.
However, the court concluded that in the context of martial law, the legislation does not provide for the replacement of mobilization with an alternative service. The court's decision states that religious beliefs cannot be grounds for evasion of mobilization that is the duty of every citizen.
"References to religious beliefs cannot be evaluated as excluding the possibility of military duty," Judge Viktor Yemchuk said in the sentence.
Nikita the Parin is found guilty of Art. 336 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine ("evasion of conscription during mobilization") and sentenced to three years of imprisonment. Defense has the right to appeal the sentence in the Court of Appeal.
