Participation in a foreign army is prohibited by the Criminal Code, regardless of which army it is

The criminal offense of “participation in a foreign army, police, paramilitary, or parapolice formation” has resulted in prison sentences for several citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia who were convicted of this crime. According to our analysis, the sentences in some cases range from 4 to 6 years. These convictions pertain to individuals who fought for or attempted to join ISIS, which directly contradicts the claim in the post we are reviewing that “ISIS fighters in Macedonia fight in Syria, return and leave whenever they want”

We analyze a post on the social network Facebook that reads:

Hundreds of Wahhabis and ISIS members from Macedonia fought in Syria and nobody cares, they return and leave whenever they want, but for Toshkovski, the problem is the Macedonians who want to fight on the Russian side against the Ukrainian fascists and their Western mentors, so he immediately arrests them, as if they were cutting off heads like the first-mentioned ones for whom he has special privileges and everything is allowed. Damn.

The Prosecutor’s Office also publishes on its website when there are situations in which investigations are being conducted for persons involved in foreign military formations. Thus, on February 28, 2020, the Prosecutor’s Office informed about a case in which a Macedonian citizen was under investigation.

At the beginning of November last year, the suspect, with the intention of participating in and receiving training from foreign military, police, paramilitary, or parapolice formations in Syria, left the territory of our country by bus and traveled to the Republic of Turkey. During the journey, he made contact with Macedonian citizens, prominent supporters of radical Islam, who were in the crisis areas of Syria and who helped him by providing contacts with people from the Republic of Turkey who would enable him to be transferred to Syria. While attempting to illegally cross the border of the Republic of Turkey into the military prohibited zone and enter Syrian territory, he was intercepted and detained by the Turkish authorities. When identifying himself, he gave a false identity of a citizen of the Republic of Italy. Through international cooperation with the Republic of Turkey, the suspect was extradited to the Republic of North Macedonia and brought before a judge for preliminary proceedings. Due to the existence of grounds provided under Article 165, paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 of the Law on Criminal Procedure, and upon the proposal of a competent prosecutor, the suspect was ordered to be detained for 30 days, the Prosecutor’s Office informed at the time.

According to the Macedonian Criminal Code, it is a crime for Macedonian citizens to fight for a foreign army, regardless of whose it is. Three days after the start of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to citizens of foreign countries to come to Ukraine to join a foreign legion and fight alongside Ukrainians. Subsequently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine also presented a website for foreign citizens who want to join the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine with all the contacts for foreign missions of Ukraine in all countries where foreign volunteer units are formed.

However, this call for Macedonian citizens was immediately made known to be inadmissible through an official statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Criminal Code of the Republic of North Macedonia stipulates that the penalty for participation or training in foreign armies and paramilitary formations and groups outside the country is at least 4 years in prison.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminds the citizens of N. Macedonia that participation in any foreign army, according to the legal regulations, specifically the Criminal Code of the country, is a criminal offense. As a friendly country of Ukraine, we understand the complex situation in which Ukraine finds itself and which puts the Ukrainian authorities in a special position to call for any kind of assistance, in all friendly countries, including support personnel, and/or volunteers who would join the Ukrainian army in defense against the military threat coming from the Russian military forces, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.

From the above examples, it becomes clear that the crime of participation in a foreign army is punishable by imprisonment, without making a distinction as to which foreign army it is. The Criminal Court archive, which was searched by “Truthmeter.mk”, yielded results for numerous individuals who have been convicted of participating in ISIS and are from this country.

Due to all the above facts, we assess the post we are reviewing as untrue. It is not true that “hundreds of Wahhabis and ISIS members from Macedonia fought in Syria and nobody cares, they return and leave whenever they want,” and on the other hand those who want to fight for Russia are immediately arrested. The criminal offense of participation in a foreign army is punishable regardless of whether it is participation in the army of Russia, Ukraine or in some other country.

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