Marcel Kandarov and Alexey Breusov. Both are contractors. Both refused to participate in hostilities. But one was given five years in prison in a penal colony of general regime, and the other – 20 months in a colony-settlement. The fact is that the servicemen were tried under different articles.
Why did it happen, despite the fact that at first glance they did the same thing, Aram Muradov, partner at the Minushkina and Partners Bar Association, argues:
“If you take Marcel Kandarov, who was sentenced to five years, he has article No. 337, which says that he arbitrarily left the unit or place of service. That is, in addition to the fact that he refused to participate in a special military operation, he, judging by the information that is indicated, arbitrarily left the unit to which he was assigned. But with Alexei, who was sentenced to 1 year and seven months, Article No. 332 – failure to comply with the order. In this case, he did not leave his unit without permission, he did not go anywhere, the only thing is that he refused to participate in a special military operation.
According to lawyers, the failure to return from vacation in excess of the established deadlines for this also applies to the unauthorized abandonment of a part. That is, Kandarov could not leave the unit, he could not return to it in time. But all this applies to active military personnel. Those who do not yet have such a status and, for example, did not appear at the military registration and enlistment office on the agenda, are still being prosecuted administratively, recalls Denis Koksharov, chairman of the Conscript Bar Association:
“All actions that are associated with evading the call for mobilization are administrative responsibility. But if a person already has the status of a serviceman and, accordingly, undergoes military service on conscription, on mobilization, there will already be appropriate criminal liability based on his status as a serviceman.”
In the fall, it was reported that State Duma deputies were preparing a bill to criminalize evasion of mobilization, but after the announcement of the completion of partial mobilization in Russia, the chairman of the defense committee, Andrei Kartapolov, and the chairman of the security committee, Vasily Piskarev, issued a joint statement that the bill had lost its relevance. and is not considered by the State Duma.
