Ivan Shyla issues statement on his military service

On 19 January a Young Front activists Ivan Shyla declared he would not visit the military registration and enlistment office until 3 February, when the winter conscription is over.
‘I know the military registration and enlistment office was pressurized by the KGB. So I consider the medical report illegal. Even if the diagnosis is based on true facts, to join the army would mean saying yes to violence and contempt for law. I am not going to leave Belarus. I am an optimist, and being an optimist in Belarus is demanding the impossible, so:
1) I am ready to undergo an independent medical examination and join the army if it finds me fit for service. I will visit the military registration and enlistment office on 3 February, immediately after the end of the winter conscription in order to avoid illegal transportation, like in the case with Zmitser Zhaleznichenka a year ago;
2) I declare that I will not obey the Law on Military Service, unless the KGB officers that pressurized the medical commission are legally prosecuted;
3) I demand to avoid restricting my right to education, i.e. to finish secondary school and take exams in 2009.
According to Shyla, copies of the statement has been sent to the General Prosecutor’s Office of Belarus, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Defense and Salihorsk District military registration and enlistment office.