Karabakh lowers fines to make draft dodgers return home

Arminfo
25 Jul 06

Yerevan, 25 July: The Karabakh defence minister, Lt-Gen Seyran Oganyan,
has chaired a meeting of the commission on the application of the
provisions of a law regarding the citizens who did not do their
military service as stipulated by law.

The law in question gives those who are eligible to be drafted into
the army but who have dodged military service an opportunity to avoid
criminal responsibility by paying a certain amount of money into the
public purse. For many Karabakhis this opens up an opportunity to
return to their motherland without the fear of prosecution.

The Karabakh defence minister said that about 1.5m drams [3,597
dollars] had already been transferred to an account of the ministry
and that the money would be spent on the needs of the army.

Amendments have been made to the law recently, in accordance with
which the amount of the fine for each conscription year has been
reduced. Members of the commission (representatives of the defence
ministry, prosecutor’s office, law-enforcement agencies, public, etc)
believe that this move will facilitate the return of Karabakhis to
their motherland.

Some applications were considered at the commission’s meeting. In
particular, a decision was made to fine a draft dodger 900,000 drams
(over 2,000 dollars). After paying the fine, he can return home
without fearing legal punishment.