9,400 cases of mobilization evasion currently under investigation, 2,600 headed to court
About 9,400 cases of mobilization evasion are currently under investigation in Ukraine, 2,600 of which have been sent to court, First Deputy Head of the National Police Maksym Tsutskiridze said in an interview with news outlet Censor.NET on Feb. 13.
“Such cases are being considered in courts somewhat slowly, we understand that judges have a heavy workload, but there are already verdicts,” the National Police representative said.
“In 2022, 250 verdicts were handed down, in 2023 — about 300. However, the courts still need to work harder to make people feel that there is no reversibility of punishment for this crime.”
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The largest number of criminal cases of mobilization evasion are being investigated in the border regions of Ukraine: Odesa, Zakarpattya, Lviv, and Chernivtsi oblasts, said Tsutskiridze, adding that most of these proceedings result in suspended sentences.
“The courts take into account the moral state, some ethical factors, the presence of relatives who are dependent on these people, children, their arguments about their unfitness for service, although the medical commission provides a certificate that they are fit,” Tsutskiridze said.
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A bill was proposed in the Verkhovna Rada earlier, in which MPs propose to adopt amendments to the Criminal Code to toughen the punishment for persons liable for military service who illegally leave the country to evade mobilization.
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