Svetlahorsk: draftee dismissed from work because of refusal to come to the military enlistment office
Svetalhorsk Drilling Operations Bureau
On
12 November a 19-year-old worker of the Svetlahorsk bureau of
drilling operations Pavel Pakidzka was suddenly dismissed from work.
The official reasons is absenteeism from work. However, the
worker and his parents think that the enterprise administration did
it as a revenge for his refusal to come to the military enlistment
office at the time when he was on a sick leave.
When Pavel
came to his work after recovery, the head of the personnel department
Mikalai Chyrva (a former head of the city council) invited him to his
office to find out why he had refused to come to the military office.
“My son explained that he was ill and decided to recover first, and
then solve his problems with the enlistment office, to which the head
of the personnel department answered that he would be fired,” said
Pavel's mother, Ala Pakidzka. “Because of this talk, he was late
for the bus which brings workers to the drilling station, which was
considered as absenteeism and served as the official reason for the
dismissal.
The boy's relatives intend to apply to court in
order to get him rehabilitated at work. Though the trial was
appointed on 12 December, it may not take place.
The matter
is that Pavel is undergoing a medical examination in Homel in
connection with the military conscription campaign. “We came to the
medical commission. There we found that many documents which
confirmed his illnesses, have just disappeared from his case.
Moreover, after examination by a psychotherapist Pavel was directed
to another examination, at a hospital, because of the alleged
suspicion of schizophrenia,” said the mother. “I asked the medics
how it could happen: my son worked as a guard, has a driver license
and has never been registered at the psychiatrist's office. Where can
such a diagnosis come from?”
The examination will continue
on 5 December. The parents have little trust to the local medics and
insist on an independent examination in Minsk.
