Russia’s bill on digital draft summons: highlights
- The bill text was published today, a few hours before the lower house of parliament adopted it in all three readings;
- The lawmakers approved the amendments after “listening to a TV interview” and after studying the text for two hours, head of the lower house’s committee for issues of family and women Nina Ostanina said;
- The bill will enter into force after it is approved by the upper house and signed by the president. The Federation Council, upper house of parliament, will consider the bill tomorrow;
- According to the bill, notices will be sent electronically, to citizens' accounts on Gosuslugi, a public services portal. If the draftee does not have a Gosuslugi account or they haven't received the notice via traditional means, it is deemed received seven days after it is uploaded to the national “draft notice registry”;
- Russians will be automatically banned from leaving country immediately after they receive a digital summons;
- If Russians refuse to show up at a designated military draft office within 20 days, they will face additional restrictions (on receiving loans, driving, and others);
- The bill’s footnote explains that it is adopted to clamp down on “draft evaders”.
The Russian State Duma, lower house of parliament, has officially adopted amendments to the military conscription law that will equate electronic draft summons to the printed ones and ban people targeted by summons from leaving the country. The amendments were published just a few hours before the vote.
The most important development is the ban on foreign travel if a potential draftee refuses to show up at a designated draft office after receiving the summons to do so. To streamline the procedure and avoid chasing eligible men down, Russia will introduce electronic draft notices, which will legally hold the same value as their printed analogues. Notices will be sent electronically, and it will be up to citizens to check their personal accounts on Gosuslugi, a public services portal. The summons is automatically considered received after it is sent out. Potential draftees will then have twenty days to report back to the specified enlistment office.
If they fail to do so, they will face legal consequences, such as the aforementioned foreign travel ban as well as loss of the right to work as a self-employed individual, obtain bank loans, register properties or vehicles, or drive cars. Moreover, the amendments envision creation of a special summons register where all draft summons will be uploaded automatically. In case a potential conscript cannot be found in person and does not have a public services portal account, he will still be considered notified seven days after the notice is uploaded to the register.
First reactions to the digital summons bill
Journalist Dmitry Kolezev: “I hope that Russians will ignore these sham summons en masse. They won’t manage to launch dozens or hundreds of thousands of criminal cases or imprison everyone, the system won’t have enough resources (at least for now).”
Author Dmitry Glukhovsky: “The digital summons bill that blocks foreign travel is a law that grants the state a right to send anyone to death without the right to appeal and without the possibility of escape with just one email. This is a bill on spam terror. Leave right now if you can.”
Journalist Andrey Zakharov: “The bill on digital draft notices is a new form of serfdom: you cannot leave, sell your apartment or car. Just go and die for Putin.”
The bill targets planned conscription and other types of military draft according to senior lawmaker Andrey Kartapolov. “We are talking about all those eligible for military service, so [the new rules will be applied] to all citizens in reserve,” he said as quoted by TASS.
The Russian police under the new rules will be able to search for those evading military service and detain them. Public services, such as courts, universities, tax offices, as well as employers, will be required to submit information about citizens to draft offices.
‘Basic principles of law are not being respected here’
Novaya Gazeta Europe spoke with lawyers Kaloy Akhilgov and Alexander Peredruk about what these changes will lead to and whether it will be possible to avoid the looming military draft.
Kaloy Akhilgov: “The adoption of this bill will lead to a massive removal of accounts on Gosuslugi (Russia’s government services website — translator’s note). In addition, those who remain and those who are unsure will begin to think about leaving. Because you are in a safety zone once out of Russia. If you are in the country, they can prevent you from leaving and you will not be able to escape at all.”
Alexander Peredruk: “The amendments significantly simplify the procedure for notifying citizens of conscription. Previously, the only way of notification was in person. Now, there will be three ways. There are legislative mechanisms that a citizen can use if they disagree with the decision of the conscription commission. This bill narrows down those mechanisms.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that Moscow was considering a new wave of mobilisation. “There’s no second wave,” he said, adding that the Kremlin “was not and is not discussing it”. He also told reporters that Russians will not panic or flee the country over the new bill because it is not linked to mobilisation.
Meanwhile, head of the lower house’s committee for issues of family and women Nina Ostanina said that the digital summons amendments were adopted after “listening to a TV interview” and two hours of studying the text, RBC reports.
“The history of the State Duma knows cases when amendments were passed after being delivered orally to the house. However, I cannot recall when a whole bill was passed after we listened to a TV interview and looked at the bill text for two hours while being in the hall. <…> When our voters ask us about the content of each article of the bill, I will not be able to respond as indistinctly as Andrey Kartapolov,” she said.