The consequences of armed rebellion for any state can be catastrophic: a strong weakening of the economy, internal tensions in the country, hunger, political confusion. This is not the worst outcome of a crime directed not only against the country, the ruling regime, but also against the individual.
The concept of armed rebellion in Russia
In article 279 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the norm and punishment are indicated, but the definition of rebellion is not given. Based on the description of the corpus delicti, we can conclude that the armed rebellion in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is a massive riot of a large number of people against the elected government in the country, which is pursuing a change in the political situation or a change in the territorial unity of the state.
Signs of crime are mass and armament. Massive means that the participants in the uprising are many people, not five or six people.
Arms means the fact that the participants in the uprising possess weapons: firearms, throwing, cold, gas or pneumatic. Defective weapons and prototypes are not considered weapons. To qualify the offense, law enforcement agencies can establish the presence of weapons of only one participant in the rebellion or the awareness of his accomplices.
The legislator divides violators of the law under article 279 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation into the following types:
- Active participants
- organizers of the uprising.
Active participation and organization of rebellion refers to the objective side of the crime.
Active participation in the rebellion
Attribution to a particular group affects the measure of punishment. The organizers of the uprising handed down by the court the highest preventive measure. But this does not mean that the least punishment is provided for active participation. Any form of participation in the rebellion leads to a long term. The task of the investigating authorities is to find the organizers of the uprising, which can be dangerous and threaten the constitutional system of the country in the future.
Active participation means that a certain group of people with the use of weapons and the resistance of the current government, seizes squares, streets, public and public places. Law enforcement authorities do not always detain specially trained provocateurs, but ordinary people who became victims of propaganda and took part in the rebellion.
Organization of resistance
The organization of armed rebellion is a call of the population to revolt against the legitimate authority of the state. The organizers create a group to overthrow the existing political regime and prepare special people to take part in the riot, develop a strategy and a plan of rebellion. The organizers not only create a rebellion project, but also coordinate the rebels.
The organizers of the rebellion will not be considered to be persons who incited people to revolt, because this action is not an organization of rebellion. The instigator only calls for rebellion and is subordinate to the decisions of the organizer. If the mutiny for some reason did not work, then in accordance with Article 30 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the crime will be regarded as an attempt to organize a mutiny.
The subjective side and the subject of the crime
The direct intention and the following goals of the organizers of the uprising will be considered the subjective side of the armed rebellion:
- the abolition of power in a country that legitimately acts on the basis of the Constitution of the state;
- changing the system in the country and replacing it with institutions that were not established by the Constitution;
- proclamation of a certain part of the Russian Federation as independent.
The legislation establishes that the subject will be considered a citizen of the Russian Federation if at the time the crime was committed he was 16 years old. When qualifying an armed rebellion, both the organizers and active participants, capable persons who personally participated in the riots and used weapons to achieve their goals, are subject to criminal penalties.
Crime Punishment
There is no death penalty in Russia. Capital punishment is not present in the legislation of the Russian Federation, although some parliamentarians are trying to return it to the Criminal Code. According to the Criminal Code, for organizing and actively participating in an armed rebellion one can be deprived of liberty for a term of 12 to 20 years.
What if a person under the age of 16 is in the dock? Recently, often teenagers are involved in criminal gangs during riots and uprisings. Law enforcement agencies need to carefully study the offense specified in article 279 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in order to be able to interpret several violations of the law, for example, banditry, hostage taking or murder. The prosecutor's office very often combines cases to present the full picture of the crime.
Offenses similar in corpus delicti with Article 279 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
Mass riots are dangerous for society, but unlike rebellion, they capture only certain regions or cities and arise spontaneously. They begin with the protests of the discontented masses, which cause transport collapse and public disorder.
In turn, rebellion is a clearly planned and well-organized crime, which implies a change of power by force.
Article 279 is similar in composition to the crimes with articles 278 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (seizure of power) and article 208 (organization of an illegal armed formation). The differences are as follows:
- The seizure of power (Article 278 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) does not provide for the possession of weapons by rebel people and does not imply a violation of the territorial integrity of the state, unlike an armed rebellion.
- Organization or participation in an illegal armed formation (Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) does not necessarily lead to participation in terrorist attacks or armed shootings. Its goals may not contradict the laws of the country, but the functioning of such a formation can be dangerous for society.
According to Article 13 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the creation of armed groups is prohibited. Very often, armed uprisings are carried out precisely in such illegal groups and gangs, the purpose of which is to overthrow the ruling regime or change the territorial integrity of the country. Armed groups do not want to obey the law and in a violent manner, including through an armed rebellion, they want to achieve their goals.
If a group was created during the organization of armed rebellion, the court decision will be made in accordance with Article 279 and Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, that is, there is a totality of crimes.
Arbitrage practice
Analysis of judicial practice shows that armed rebellion is considered a particularly dangerous crime and court decisions in most cases are made in conjunction with other articles of the Criminal Code.
Most of the court cases involved participation in illegal armed groups for the separation of the Caucasus from Russia. Criminals used different types of weapons in attacks on Russian military checkpoints with the goal of eliminating the constitutional system and proclaiming Sharia in the republic of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan.
One of the cases concerned the killing of the Russian military in an armed clash with militants in Dagestan. Criminals attacked the Russian infantry fighting vehicle, and when the military ran out of ammunition, the militants brutally cracked down on the soldiers. The convicts were sentenced under article 279 of the Criminal Code - 13 years in prison and under article 317 (encroachment on the lives of law enforcement officials) - life imprisonment. According to Art. 69 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for a combination of crimes, the court decision consisted of a life sentence.
CIS countries and punishment for armed rebellion
In no country in the world are rioting and rebellion encouraged. The states of the former USSR are no exception.
As an example, take the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Criminal Code of Kazakhstan has a similar article 181 - armed rebellion. If we compare the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with the legislation of Kazakhstan, for such a crime the same punishment follows - from 12 to 20 years in prison. But in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan there is one difference: for armed rebellion they are deprived of citizenship, which Russian law does not provide for.