Jehovah’s Witness gets probation instead of prison term for refusing to fight

Supreme Court of Ukraine. Photo: glavnoe.in.ua

The Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld the conviction of a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses from the Ternopil region who had been found guilty of evading mobilization, but replaced his three-year prison sentence with probation, Espreso reports.

The man was liable for military service and underwent a military medical examination, which found him fit for duty. However, in April 2023 he refused to accept a draft notice and failed to report to an assembly point, explaining that he had been a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses since 2014 and that his religious beliefs did not allow him to wear a military uniform or take up arms.

After he refused the draft notice, criminal proceedings were opened against him. On November 8, 2024, the Chortkiv District Court of the Ternopil region found him guilty under Article 336 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and sentenced him to three years in prison. The court of appeal upheld the ruling.

The Supreme Court agreed that religious beliefs alone do not exempt a person from the obligation to perform military service during mobilization, since Ukrainian law does not provide for an alternative-service procedure during mobilization under martial law.

At the same time, the court added that such beliefs may be taken into account during military service itself – in particular, a serviceman cannot be compelled to carry out orders involving the carrying or use of weapons if this conflicts with his faith.

Taking into account that the man was a first-time offender, had no prior convictions, and had positive character references, the panel of judges replaced the custodial sentence with release on probation.

As the UOJ reported, the Netishyn City Court in the Khmelnytskyi region had previously sentenced a resident of the Ternopil region to three years in prison for evading mobilization.

Read also