Czech Court Denies Ukrainian Man Asylum: Defending One's Homeland Is a Civic Duty

The Prague Municipal Court has rejected a lawsuit filed by a Ukrainian citizen who was seeking international protection in the Czech Republic in order to avoid returning home and being drafted into the army. According to the ruling issued last week and cited in court documents, the man is a reservist, and defending his homeland is his civic duty.

The Ukrainian man argued that he feared returning to his country because of the threat of mobilization. In his complaint, he claimed that the armed conflict exposed him to serious harm, including inhuman or degrading treatment, and that he refused to take part in combat on moral grounds.

The Court's Position

Judge Jaroslava Křivánková stated in her ruling: "Compulsory military service and service in the armed forces are not, in themselves, grounds for granting international protection, as they represent basic civic duties whose legitimacy is recognized even by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms." In her view, fear of conscription alone cannot be regarded as persecution.

The ruling also notes that draft evasion or desertion — even where they carry criminal liability — cannot serve as grounds for granting international protection.

The Applicant Is a Military Reservist

The court pointed out that the plaintiff also does not qualify for civilian status. The man himself stated that he had completed basic military training in the past and had served 18 months in the army before 2021. Moreover, during the administrative proceedings, he failed to provide any evidence of deep-seated, long-standing convictions that would prevent him from performing military service.

New Rules for Refugees

Since August of this year, the Czech Republic has imposed restrictions on Ukrainian male refugees of military age — between 23 and 60. They are no longer granted temporary protection unless they can confirm that they have fulfilled their military service obligations at home. As a reminder, men in this age group are not legally permitted to leave Ukraine without special authorization.

Read also: Extending temporary protection in the Czech Republic for Ukrainians

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz