There will be no mass extradition of draft dodgers – president's representative

Fedir Venislavsky, a representative of the president in the Ukrainian parliament, has given assurances that there will be no mass extradition of men evading conscription abroad.

Source: Venislavsky on Radio Liberty

Quote: "From the point of view of legal procedure, there is no such thing as the mass extradition of citizens. Criminal liability is personalised and individual.

Therefore, you would need to make an application for each case and provide relevant documents confirming that the individual concerned is hiding from the pre-trial investigation authorities, the court; and only after that could the extradition procedure be deployed. But given the rules and European legal standards that regulate the activities of both the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, this could be challenged in the courts of Bulgaria, Poland or Romania. The final decision would be up to the court.

So, of course, this is a very complex procedure, and we will think about how to make it more flexible. But it requires careful analysis and discussion."

Details: According to Venislavsky, there are at least three ways in which the border is being crossed illegally: the first is crossing outside the official checkpoints, and the second is hiding while crossing at a checkpoint, only to get out in a neutral zone and cross the state border of another country with a passport.

Quote: "The most widespread [method] is using fake, knowingly false, forged documents that permit the individual to leave the country, such as a certificate stating that they have a category 1 or 2 disability and are therefore not subject to conscription in either wartime or peacetime, meaning that there are no grounds for restricting their right of movement under the current legislation.

From the point of view of the documents presented, that person crossed the state border legally. But in terms of the forged documents, that is a separate crime that encompasses the liability of both those who forged the documents and those who knowingly made use of them.

Since we understand that the person who used such documents does not have the status of a person with a disability, it is a crime committed to avoid fulfilling their constitutional duties."

Details: Venislavsky noted that these actions require the registration of criminal proceedings, and the establishment of such instances is the work of the law enforcement agencies.

He added that following the registration of proceedings, expert examinations should be carried out to establish whether the documents used to cross the border were false. After that, the person who used the documents can be notified of the suspicion in absentia, and then the extradition rules can be deployed.

Background:

• Davyd Arakhamiia, the leader of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party, said that Ukrainians liable for military service who left Ukraine on the basis of forged certificates of their unfitness for service may be extradited.
• Responding to Arakhamiia’s statement, Denys Maliuska, Ukraine’s Minister of Justice, said that this is a fairly complicated procedure and that European countries refuse to assist Kyiv in matters of extradition, given the security issues caused by the war in Ukraine.
• On 4 September, the Polish news outlet Rzeczpospolita reported on the potential extradition of Ukrainian men fleeing mobilisation. Shortly afterwards, the newspaper made amendments to its report and changed the headline, adding that in the past Warsaw has extradited Ukrainians who were involved in trafficking illegal migrants.
• According to Andrii Demchenko, spokesman for the State Border Service, 20-30 men attempt to cross the border of Ukraine illegally every day.

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