Articles 58 1 , 58 1a –58 1d and 58 2 –58 14 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1922, as amended by 1926 and later versions, established responsibility for counter-revolutionary activities . Canceled in 1961. In everyday life were called "the 58th article." Articles 58 1 —58 18 as amended in 1926 were to be enacted since the entry into force of the federal regulation on state crimes [1] . This Regulation was approved by the decision of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of February 25, 1927 [2] . Already by a resolution of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of June 6, 1927 [3], they were replaced by articles 58 1 —58 14 of the new edition. At the same time, the new edition was reversed - it was also put into effect since the Regulation came into force on February 25. Thus, articles 58 15 —58 18 actually did not work. Article 58 6 was edited in 1928 . By a decree of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of July 20, 1934 [4], the Code was supplemented with Articles 58 1a –58 1d .
In the Criminal Codes of other Union Republics of the USSR there were similar articles [5] . In particular, in the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR, it corresponded to the 54th article.
From 1921 to 1953, 3,777,380 people were convicted of counter-revolutionary crimes [6] , including 642,980 people sentenced to capital punishment [7] .
Content
Contents
- 58-1 . Definition of counter-revolutionary activities.
“Any action aimed at overthrowing, undermining or weakening the power of workers 'and peasants' councils and ... governments of the USSR, Union and autonomous republics, or undermining or weakening the external security of the USSR and the main economic, political and national gains of the proletarian revolution is recognized as counterrevolutionary; any actions that damage the military power of the USSR, its state independence or the inviolability of its territory; espionage on the side of the enemy, flight or flight abroad. "
- 58-1a . Treason to the Motherland : shooting with confiscation of property, or 10 years with confiscation of property.
- 58-1b . Treason by military personnel: shooting with confiscation of property
- 58-1b . In the case of a soldier escaping or traveling abroad, adult members of his family, if they contributed to the impending or committed treason, or even knew about it, but did not bring it to the notice of the authorities, are punished with imprisonment from 5 to 10 years with the confiscation of all property.
- The remaining adult members of the traitor’s family, who lived with him or were dependent on him at the time of the crime, are subject to deprivation of voting rights and exile to remote areas of Siberia for 5 years.
- 58-1g . Failure on the part of a serviceman about impending or perfect betrayal entails imprisonment for 10 years. Failure by other citizens (not military personnel) to be prosecuted under Art. 58-12. [July 20, 1934]
- 58-2 . An armed uprising, any action with the intention of forcibly repelling from the Soviet Union any part of its territory or invasion in order to seize power: shooting or declaring workers as an enemy with confiscation of property and deprivation of citizenship of the Union Republic and expulsion from the Union SSR forever, with the assumption, under mitigating circumstances, of lowering to imprisonment for at least three years, with confiscation of all or part of the property.
- 58-3 . Contacts with a foreign state for counterrevolutionary purposes or its individual representatives, as well as contributing in any way to a foreign state that is in a state of war with the USSR or leading a fight with it by intervention or blockade are punished under article 58-2.
- 58-4 . Assisting the international bourgeoisie, which does not recognize the equality of the communist system, seeking to overthrow it, as well as public groups and organizations under the influence or directly organized by this bourgeoisie in carrying out activities hostile to the USSR: punishment is similar to article 58-2
- 58-5 . The declination of a foreign state or any public groups in it, to declare war, armed intervention in the affairs of the USSR or other hostile actions, in particular: to the blockade, to seize state property, sever diplomatic relations and other aggressive actions against the USSR: the punishment is similar Article 58-2
- 58-6 . Spying, that is, the transfer, abduction or gathering for the purpose of transmitting information that is a state secret, or economic information that is not a state secret, but which is not subject to disclosure by direct prohibition by law or order of heads of departments, institutions and enterprises. Punishment is similar to article 58-2.
- 58-7 . Undermining state industry, transport, trade, money circulation or the credit system, as well as cooperation, accomplished for counterrevolutionary purposes by appropriate use of state institutions and enterprises, or countering their normal activities, as well as using state institutions and enterprises or countering their activities, the interests of former owners or interested capitalist organizations, that is, industrial sabotage: adic article 58-2
- 58-8 . Terrorist acts against representatives of the Soviet government or leaders of the revolutionary workers and peasant organizations: the punishment is similar to article 58-2
- 58-9 . Causing damage to the transportation system, water supply, communications and other facilities or state and public property for counter-revolutionary purposes: the punishment is similar to article 58-2
- 58-10 . Propaganda or agitation, calling for overthrowing, undermining or weakening Soviet power or for committing certain counter-revolutionary crimes (art 58-2 - 58-9), as well as distributing or producing or storing literature of the same content entail - imprisonment term not less than six months.
The same actions in case of mass unrest or with the use of religious or national prejudices of the masses, or in a military situation, or in areas declared to be in a state of war: the punishment is similar to article 58-2. - 58-11 . Any kind of organizational activity aimed at preparing or committing the counterrevolutionary crimes provided for in this chapter is equal to the commission of such crimes and is punishable by the criminal code under the relevant articles.
- 58-12 . Failure to report a well-known, preparing or committed counter-revolutionary crime: from 6 months imprisonment.
- 58-13 . Vigorous actions or active struggle against the working class and the revolutionary movement, manifested in responsible or secret (agents) positions under the tsarist or counterrevolutionary government during the civil war: punishment is similar to article 58-2
- 58-14 . (added June 6, 1927) Counterrevolutionary sabotage, that is, someone’s deliberately not fulfilling certain duties or deliberately negligently fulfilling them with the special purpose of weakening the authority of the government and the state apparatus, entails imprisonment of at least one year, with confiscation all or part of the property, with the increase, under especially aggravating circumstances, up to the execution with confiscation.
Article Changes
After the condemnation of Stalinism N. Khrushchev, the text was significantly changed. On December 25, 1958, the 1958 Basics of the Criminal Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics was adopted, and republican criminal codes began to be brought into line with them. In the criminal code , which began to operate in the RSFSR on January 1, 1961, the chapter “State crimes” contained articles from the 64th to the 88th and was divided into two parts: “Particularly dangerous state crimes”, which included treason against the Motherland, espionage , terrorist act, etc., and “Other State Crimes”, such as violation of national and racial equality, disclosure of state secrets, banditry, etc.
Applying Article
The prisoners sentenced under Article 58 were called "political", compared to ordinary criminals ("criminals", "bytovik"). After their release, the prisoners did not have the right to settle closer than 100 km from major cities (within the time limits specified by the court).
Article 58 was also applied outside the USSR. In the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, Soviet citizens were arrested on suspicion of espionage and could be convicted on the basis of article 58 of the Soviet criminal code. In the special camps of the NKVD in Bautzen, 66% of prisoners belonged to this category [8] .
Conformities in the Penal Codes of the Union Republics
Article 58 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR in the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR corresponded to Article 54 , which completely repeated the division of the 58th paragraph into [9] [10] . The 63rd article [11] was similar in the Criminal Code of the BSSR.
See also
- State crimes
- Counterrevolution in Soviet law
- Gulag
- Repression in the USSR
- Stalinist repression
- Kolyma stories
- The Gulag Archipelago
Notes
- ↑ SU RSFSR . 1926. No. 80. Art. 600
- ↑ NW USSR . 1927. № 12. Art. 123.
- ↑ SU RSFSR. 1927. No. 49. Art. 330.
- ↑ SU RSFSR. 1934. № 30. Art. 173.
- ↑ In the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian SSR, before the adoption of its own Criminal Code, Article 58 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR was applied.
- ↑ As amended by the first Criminal Code of the RSFSR, which was in force until 1927 , responsibility for them was established by Articles 58-73. Prior to its introduction from June 1, 1922, the verdicts in accordance with the Decree on Court No. 1 and the Regulation on the People’s Court of 1918 could only provide a legal basis for “ revolutionary sense of justice ” (see, for example, the sentence against Baron Ungern ( Baron Ungern in documents and memoirs / Comp. S. L. Kuzmin. - M. , 2004. - P. 262——263. - ISBN 5-87317-164-5 . )).
- ↑ Letter of the USSR Prosecutor General R. A. Rudenko, Minister of the Interior of the USSR S. N. Kruglov and Minister of Justice of the USSR K. P. Gorshenin to the 1st Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee N. S. Khrushchev about review of cases on persons convicted of counterrevolutionary crimes
- ↑ Kai Cornelius . Vom spurlosen Verschwindenlassen zur Benachrichtigungspflicht bei Festnahmen. - BWV Verlag, 2004. - S. 129. - ISBN 3-8305-1165-5 .
- ↑ Statti 54-1 - 54-14 КК УРСР 1927 and 1934 рр
- ↑ Statte 54 of the Criminal Code USRR
- Criminal Code of the BSSR (edition 1928)
Literature
- Russia. XX century. Article 58/10. Supervisory proceedings of the USSR Prosecutor's Office in cases of anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda: an annotated catalog. - M .: Inter. Foundation "Democracy", 1999. - ISBN 5-85646-041-3 .
- Artemyeva, Anna; Racheva, Elena. "58th. The Unbroken. M .: LLC Publishing House AST, 2016. - ISBN 978-5-17-092639-8 .
- Artemyeva, Anna; Racheva, Elena. Opening of the exhibition “58th. The Unbroken. International Memorial Society. Moscow. 2016