YUGOSLAVIA
THE MILITARY PRISON OF NOVI SAD IS FULL OF DRAFT EVADERS

HRWF (20.04.1999) - The military prison in Novi Sad is full of draft evaders. Not only the Nazarenes and Jehovah's Witnesses (traditional religious objectors in Vojvodina, Serbia), but others as well. None of the proceedings have started yet, although they are all threatened with much more severe sentences than in peace times.

Nevertheless, it is almost impossible to escape mobilization but people are silently accepting the call-ups, as they see no other way out. After bombings of miltary barracks and reservists who were sleeping out in the fields, many mobilized are now allowed to stay home. They just get uniforms and wait for the ground troops' attack.