A Norwegian organization that seeks to advertise freedom of faith and belief has documented quite a few cases of Christian conscientious objectors being imprisoned by Ukrainian authorities.
Forum 18 checked out the case of Serhy Semchuk, a married man in his early-thirties from the village of Brody within the western Lviv Region. Semchuk has been a member of a Baptist church that preaches against the usage of violence since 2012.
In December 2022, Semchuk was mobilized but told the Recruitment Office that, while he was willing to do his duty and serve within the military, he was not prepared to make use of weapons because of his faith. The recruitment office agreed to this and assigned him to his unit, says Forum 18.
A 12 months later Semchek was ordered, with other members of his unit, to arm themselves with machine guns. After refusing to perform the order, Semchek was detained, although he was released on bail pending a trial, which took place in May 2024.
Charged with “Disobedience committed under martial law or in a combat situation”, Semchek was found guilty and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Semchek appealed the sentence in September 2024, nonetheless it was upheld. This was despite the decision of the Appeal Court, released last month, stating the next: “The panel of judges considers it crucial to notice that the call-up of Serhy Nechayuk to military service upon mobilisation doesn’t mean that he was mechanically obliged to take up arms, because given his religious beliefs and constitutional duty to defend the Fatherland during his service, he might have been involved in repairing equipment, constructing fortifications, transporting the wounded, transporting cargo, or performing another functions not related to the usage of weapons.”
At the top of January, Ukrainian officials took Semchek from his workplace in order that he could begin serving his sentence.
Ukraine’s Supreme Court has refused to listen to an extra appeal on Semchek’s case. A member of Semchek’s church told Forum 18, “We’re in such shock that this happened … He doesn’t need to kill. We support his and our church’s position – we’ve this teaching.”
According to Forum 18, quite a few other Christians and Jehovah’s Witnesses are currently being imprisoned in Ukraine under similar circumstances.
