# Minsk Jehovah's Witness sentenced to 6 months of corrective labour for refusing military training

- URL: https://syn.by/en/state/courts/minsk-jehovahs-witness-sentenced-6-months/
- Published: 2026-11-07T16:00:46+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-07T16:00:47+00:00
- Section: Courts
- Language: en
- RU edition: https://syn.by/ru/gosudarstvo/sudy-ru/minchanina-svidetelya-iegovy-osudili-6-mesyatsev.md
- BE edition: https://syn.by/dziarzhava/sudy/minchuka-sviedku-ijehovy-asudzili-6-miesiacau.md

> The Pershamaiski District Court of Minsk found Yauhen Shvedau guilty under Article 436 of the Criminal Code. The Minsk City Court rejected his appeal, and the sentence has entered into force.

![Yevgeny Shvedov — Minsk Jehovah's Witness sentenced to 6 months of corrective labour for refusing military training](https://syn.by/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/yevgeny-shvedov-6492-1024x585.webp)

Yauhen Shvedau, a 38-year-old Minsk resident who practises the Jehovah's Witness faith, has been sentenced to six months of corrective labour, with 20% of his earnings withheld in favour of the state. According to the human rights organisation Forum 18, he was tried for refusing, "on grounds of conscience", to take part in military training for reservists.

The sentence was handed down on 13 April 2026 by the Pershamaiski District Court of Minsk. The case was opened in December 2025 under Article 436 of the Criminal Code.

On 7 October 2025, Shvedau came to the assembly point and once again explained why he refuses military training. Officials verbally refused him an exemption and called the police.

On 16 June, the Minsk City Court rejected his appeal, after which the sentence entered into legal force. Shvedau filed a cassation appeal and challenged the original decision to call him up for the training. The outcome of that appeal is not yet known.

Shvedau had previously received exemptions from the training on religious grounds: in April and May 2023 and in August 2025. According to Forum 18, in autumn 2025 the authorities changed their position, refused him an exemption and opened a criminal case.

Alternative civilian service has existed in Belarus since 2016, but it does not apply to reservists. For people in Shvedau's position there is no substitute for military training. According to Jehovah's Witness representatives, by the time alternative service was introduced he had already aged out of eligibility for it.

The Constitution and the law "On Universal Military Duty and Military Service" recognise the right to replace military service with alternative service on religious grounds. The Constitutional Court has indicated that the obligation of a conscript or reservist to provide direct evidence of the strength of their convictions does not contradict Article 31 of the Constitution.