The status of a “non-citizen” in Ukraine: Prytula explains who it should concern
2 July 14:52
Ukrainian volunteer Serhiy Prytula has proposed to introduce the status of non-citizen for the ‘fifth column’, traitors and corrupt officials. Prytula wrote about this on his Facebook page, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
Prytula describes a deep moral dilemma that has developed in Ukrainian society during a full-scale war: on the one hand, there is a soldier who risks his life every second, and on the other, people who deliberately spread Russian narratives, support the aggressor, or cooperate with enemy special services.
“We live in a country at war. And there are two opposites in our society at the same time. There are soldiers in the trenches who risk their lives every moment to fight for the country’s freedom. And there are the scum who spread Russian narratives, cooperate with Russian special services, and wait for the Russian world in Ukraine. And both of them have Ukrainian citizenship. This is not about freedom of speech or choice. This is a moral anomaly. Citizenship is a responsibility that goes hand in hand with rights. Citizenship is not just about having a passport with a trident. It is a mutual agreement: you are for this state, and it is for you,” the volunteer emphasizes.
Proposal: introduce the status of “non-citizen”
Serhiy Prytula proposes to publicly discuss the possibility of creating a new legal status – “non-citizen”. According to his idea, this is a person who retains basic rights while living in Ukraine, but has no political influence, i.e. cannot vote or be elected to the authorities.
He cites the examples of the Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia, where, after gaining independence, part of the population received “gray passports,” a document with limited rights that was intended to protect the young states from the colonial influence of Russia.
“Yes, international law warns against such institutions. But, for example, in Latvia and Estonia, people who were not naturalized after the restoration of independence received “gray passports.” In this way, the young states protected themselves from the colonial trail. Ukraine, on the other hand, allowed this burden to remain. Maybe it’s time to reconsider this part of the social contract?” Prytula believes.
Proposes to deprive citizenship for treason, collaboration and corruption
Prytula advocates the possibility of depriving Ukrainian citizenship in cases of high treason, support for the enemy, anti-Ukrainian propaganda, and in cases of systemic corruption.
“Citizenship is not only a legal status, it is an act of trust. The state trusts its citizens. And it has the right to revise the trust agreement in exceptional cases. Collaborators and separatists convicted of treason, the “fifth column” spreading the anti-Ukrainian narrative, and even corrupt officials! In these cases, we should really consider the possibility of deprivation of citizenship. If you betray your country, dishonor it, steal from it, then why do you need its passport?” the volunteer asks rhetorically.
He also draws attention to a legal conflict: can a person who has already served a sentence for treason remain a citizen of the state he or she betrayed?
In the end, Prytula emphasizes that we cannot build a state in which the voice of a traitor is equal to the voice of a soldier defending Ukraine.
“This needs to be changed. And the sooner the better!” he concluded.
What is the status of a non-citizen?
The institution of a non-citizen is a legal or political status in which a person resides in a country but does not have citizenship of that country and, accordingly, does not have all the rights that citizens have.
A person is not a citizen of the country where he or she lives, even if he or she was born or has lived there all his or her life. As a rule, they cannot vote or hold public office.
In the 1990s, tens of thousands of Russian-speaking residents of Latvia and Estonia became “non-citizens,” meaning that they did not automatically receive the citizenship of the independent states. They were issued a non-citizen passport, which allows them to reside in the country but does not give them the right to vote.
