Translated material
The experiment failed
Nizhny Novgorod alternative artists may be drafted into the army
In Nizhny Novgorod, the experiment on alternative civil service may fail. At the end of last week, the Nizhny Novgorod regional court canceled the order of Mayor Yuri Lebedev to create a municipal detachment of alternative workers, who were sent to work as orderlies in one of the city’s hospitals. And now the young people who responded to the mayor’s initiative are in danger of ending up in military units during the next spring conscription. At the same time, the time worked in civilian life most likely will not be counted towards length of service.Nizhny Novgorod was the first Russian city to begin the practical implementation of Article 59 of the Constitution, which allows for the replacement of military service with an alternative civilian one. Since January 3 of this year, by decision of the city administration, 20 people are undergoing AGS at the 1st City Hospital as orderlies. By the way, they also have a special uniform - white coats with the inscription “Civil Alternative Service”. The city prosecutor's office immediately appealed the mayor's decision in the district court. Judge Olga Golubeva then rejected the protest. But the regional court overturned the lower court's decision and introduced great confusion into this story. “The fact is that the court canceled the mayor’s order on the AGS, but it did not cancel the decision of the city draft commission to send these guys to work in the hospital,” assistant to the mayor of Nizhny Novgorod Andrei Uspensky explained to the Vremya Novostey newspaper correspondent. “After all, we only created the conditions for the ACS, but did not personally send anyone there.”
The conscripts themselves have quite successfully taken on the role of pioneers and are already appearing on local television. According to Andrei Uspensky, there is no panic among them. No one expressed a desire to withdraw from the experiment. “We are very lucky with these guys,” says the mayor’s assistant. “Even before they came and wrote an application to the draft board, they were engaged in social work: they were part of a peacekeeping group, providing assistance to the elderly and the sick.” The city administration is now preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court.