QURGHON TEPPA, July 12, 2013, Asia-Plus — During the spring conscription campaign, 22 school students from the Shahritous district, Khatlon province have been illegally drafted for military service.
Qurghon Teppa military prosecutor, Mahmoud Alimardonov, stated this at a news conference in Qurghon Teppa on July 11.
According to him, the Dushanbe military prosecutor’s office instituted criminal proceedings against members of the Shahritous district conscription commission on May 25. “The preliminary investigation has established quit of each of members of the commission,” Alimardonov said.
According to him, 13 cases of illegal conscription of school students for military services were revealed in Khatlon during the last spring conscription campaign. “Four school students have already been returned home,” the prosecutor added.
We will recall that according to Faridoun Mahmadaliyev, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense (MoD), the spring conscription campaign target was overfulfilled by 0.7 percent.
The spring conscription campaign is carried out from April through May, and the draft affects able-bodied male citizens in the age bracket of 18 years old to 27 years old who are not members of the armed forces reserve.
According to the Ministry of Defense, every year, some 15,000-16,000 young Tajik men are drafted into the country’s armed forces. The two-month-long effort seeking to enlist young men aged 18-27 for the two-year compulsory military service takes place twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn.
Some sources say more than 600,000 young men in Tajikistan are eligible for military service, but some 150,000 of them have received draft deferments or are exempted from the military service and some 100,000 other conscript-age young Tajiks are outside the country in search of a living.
Young Tajiks can avoid or postpone military service if they are ill, studying at university, an only son, or if they have two children.
