HUMAN RIGHTS INFORMATION AGENCY "EXPRESS-CHRONICLE"

ENGLISH WEEKLY NEWS DIGEST

6 May 1997

ST.PETERSBURG (M.Bogdanova) St.Petersburg conscripts, who refuse military service on the basis of their convictions, will be allowed to perform alternative civilian service (ACS).

Speaking at the ITAR-TASS press-centre on 28 April, the commander of the Leningrad Military District, Valentin Bobryshev stated that the gradual introduction of ACS during the course of this year was experimental. The first company of conscientious objectors will serve for three years on Valaam island, the site of the Preobrazhenskiy Monastery. Working places are also being prepared for young people in the town's medical establishments, where they will care for the sick. However, Bobryshev stated that conscientious objectors will also perform ACS outside the hospital.