Kidnappings in Russia
It’s not for nothing that the 90s of the last century are called “dashing”. The country was in turmoil, all legal and moral restrictions were swept away. One war after another was raging in Chechnya, and the country was being choked by a severe financial crisis. And against this background, crimes surfaced that were previously unheard of in the USSR. Including one of the most cynical and bloody types of criminal business - kidnapping.
This type of crime became a real criminal business, bringing in stable and considerable income, primarily in warring Chechnya. The money received as ransom for the abducted people was used to finance Chechen militants and ended up in the pockets of local “emirs” of all stripes and shades. The bandits did not stand on ceremony with prisoners: they could receive a ransom, and then mutilate and kill the victim.
Composition of the act and its characteristics
The object of the crime is human freedom. When committing an act, the right of every citizen, guaranteed by constitutional and international law, to move freely and choose a place of residence is violated.
The objective side is an action carried out in a secret or open form to capture a person and hold him in a specific place against his will. At the moment of actual possession of a person, the crime is considered completed.
The subject is a sane person who has reached 16 years of age. However, the taking of a minor by his parent or grandparent is not a criminal act if the taking is carried out in the interests of the child.
The subjective side is direct intent. It follows from this that the guilty person is aware of the illegality of his actions, pursues a specific goal and wants the consequences of his act to occur.
What is the difference between kidnapping and hostage taking? Kidnapping is an unlawful deprivation of liberty, and hostage-taking is a forced restriction of the freedom of citizens, which the criminals promise to return only in exchange for the fulfillment of their conditions. You can read the details in this article https://lexconsult.online/6839-uderzhanie-v-zalozhnikah-sostav-otvetstvennost-stati-uk-rf
Concept and definition
What is kidnapping? What type of crime is kidnapping?
Surely you were interested in a similar question.
So, kidnapping means actions that, of course, are contrary to the law and are aimed at capturing a citizen.
Moreover, such acts can be carried out in different ways .
This can happen openly, in the middle of a busy street, secretly, carefully planned, or even by misleading a person, which is most often done with children.
Another important element of the concept of kidnapping is the subsequent actions of the criminals .
They are characterized as moving a person to a certain point and keeping him there until a certain period or at all, without a certain period.
Most often, when committing such a crime, people are driven by a thirst for profit .
It manifests itself in the form of ransom.
In addition, by kidnapping, third interested parties are attracted to commit any actions .
You can find out more about the norm regulating the issues of kidnapping in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, namely in Article 126 .
All this is very ugly and unpleasant, but such crimes have become widespread and require detailed consideration.
Disclaimer
Responsibility for the abduction of a citizen is not provided if the person voluntarily released the person he abducted.
Conditions for the voluntary release of the injured party:
- Having your own initiative;
- Lack of information from law enforcement agencies about the whereabouts of the abducted person;
- The perpetrator did not achieve the goal of the seizure (for example, did not receive money for kidnapping people for ransom).
It is important to distinguish kidnapping from unlawful deprivation of liberty. If in the first case a person is captured by force, then in the second he voluntarily comes to the specified place, where he is held against his will.
TV presenter kidnapping
In the turbulent 90s, kidnappings occurred not only in Chechnya, but throughout Russia. This was one of the favorite methods of putting pressure on businessmen. Even the permanent TV presenter of “Field of Miracles” Leonid Yakubovich became a victim of the kidnappers. Let us recall that the television project itself was invented and promoted by the late Vlad Listyev. And it was one of the most rated and successful projects of Channel One.
Vladislav Listyev
In 1994, a serious conflict of interest occurred at the TV channel. Listyev's opponents tried to pull the rug out from under his feet, depriving Vladislav of the most rated programs. As a result, Leonid Yakubovich was kidnapped. He was brought to some safe house and held there for several days, forcing him to sign a letter of resignation from the “Field of Miracles” program.
However, Yakubovich showed persistence and did not sign anything. Eventually he was released. The showman did not give wide publicity to this story, realizing that he still had to work on the channel, and it was unknown how things would turn out. Maybe that’s why he avoided the fate of Listyev, who was shot by killers in the entrance of his own house on March 1, 1995.
Punishment for the act
Part 1 art. 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (general composition) establishes punishment in the form of forced labor - up to 5 years and imprisonment - up to 5 years.
Part 2 art. 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (qualifying composition) fixes punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 12 years. An additional sanction is restriction of freedom - up to 2 years.
The provided measures are prescribed in the following circumstances:
note
In addition to the kidnapping itself, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation separately regulates the concept of forced labor. Read more about this in the article on our website.
- The act was committed by several persons who conspired with each other . Even at the stage of preparation for a crime, 2 or more people (co-perpetrators) agree on the conditions and location of the kidnapping.
- During the capture, violence was used, posing a threat to life and health . The qualifying feature is taken into account if harm was caused to the injured party, his relatives or third parties during the commission of the act.
- Use of weapons or other items that replace weapons (cold steel, firearms, etc.) . As a substitute for weapons, a hot iron, a sharp stone, a hammer, etc. can be used.
- Kidnapping of a child (in legal journalism this act is called kidnapping). The qualifying feature is taken into account if the offender knows for sure that the person is under 18 years of age.
- Capturing a pregnant woman . The punishment is imposed under Part 2 of Art. 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, if the perpetrator knew in advance about the pregnancy of the injured party.
- Possession of several citizens . The kidnapping of 2 or more people can be carried out at once or “serially” (i.e. several times at certain intervals).
- The presence of selfish interest . It refers to the desire of the guilty person to receive material benefit when committing an act. In this case, the benefit may be directly for the criminal or for third parties.
Part 3 art. 127 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (specially qualifying composition) establishes sanctions in the form of imprisonment for up to 15 years. At the discretion of the court, an additional sanction is imposed in the form of restriction of freedom - up to 2 years.
These measures apply in the following circumstances:
- Committing a crime by an organized group . It means that several people are acting for criminal purposes, who have previously united to commit one or more illegal actions.
- The onset of grave consequences for the injured party, including her death . Other serious consequences include bankruptcy of the company, termination of a significant transaction, damage to property values, etc.
Other liability is provided for a set of acts. For example, for kidnapping children for ransom, liability is established not only under Art. 126, but also Art. 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Corpus delicti
Associated murder: how is it classified?
The contiguity suggests that the abduction occurred either before the murder occurred, or occurred simultaneously.
Thus, we can say that the person could have had the intent to commit murder or it was committed through negligence.
In such cases, such a crime is not covered by only one article, but is qualified by the combination of article one hundred and five and the article of kidnapping.
The Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation speaks about this in one of its resolutions.
Case studies
Judicial practice knows many cases of kidnapping. One example is the capture of a girl in the spring of 2015 with the aim of obtaining a ransom from her husband on a particularly large scale. The victim was tricked into getting into a car and then taken to the house of one of the criminals, where she was held against her will.
By agreement of both culprits, the ransom amount was determined - 10,000,000 rubles. In addition, they threatened the husband of the injured party with the murder of his wife if the demand for payment of this amount was not fulfilled.
Both criminals were sentenced to 6 years in prison under Part 2 of Art. 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and to 7 years in prison under Art. 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Based on the totality of their actions, they were sentenced to 9 years of imprisonment in a maximum security colony.
You can learn more about liability for kidnapping by asking questions in the comments to the article.
Kidnappings
As people who worked in the fight against organized crime in the mid-90s of the last century recall, at that time Moscow was literally overwhelmed by a wave of kidnappings of businessmen, their wives and children. The stories were absolutely terrible. For example, bandits tried to protect one businessman who ran trade pavilions at the clothing market in the VDNKh area. At first they simply “ran into” him. But the businessman had his own fairly serious security service and managed to fight off the attack. And then the bandits organized the kidnapping of the businessman’s nine-year-old son.
Kidnappings
The child was taken to school in a car with a guard. One day this car was blocked by two cars of bandits. Having killed the security guard and the driver, the criminals kidnapped the boy, and after some time they called his father demanding to “get out of the market.” And when the businessman became stubborn and turned to law enforcement agencies, he received a parcel with the schoolboy’s cut off fingers. By the way, neither the body of the deceased child nor the kidnappers have been found yet.
As employees of the RUBOP recall, then in the capital this bloody business was “held” by the Georgian mafia - “authorities” who fled Georgia along with their capital, fearing the repressions carried out by Shevardnadze. They settled in Moscow and started kidnapping people. With enormous efforts, the Georgian mafia was brought under control, but this “baton” was immediately picked up by people from the North Caucasus. Although not in such volumes, the kidnappings continued.
An equally terrible story happened in 1996 in the family of the then leader of Yabloko, Grigory Yavlinsky. On the eve of the 1996 elections, his eldest son from the first marriage of the politician’s wife, Mikhail, was kidnapped. After some time, Yavlinsky received a “black mark” - a phalanx of one of the boy’s fingers, wrapped in a note “If you don’t leave politics, we’ll cut off your head.” True, the boy was released immediately after this terrible torture. He got home, his parents rushed to the best surgeons, and the finger managed to heal.
The difference between kidnapping and hostage taking
Hostage taking, a crime regulated by Article 206 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, should be distinguished from kidnapping.
These compounds have several overlapping characteristics, so sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between them. However, these are different crimes. First of all, they differ in the main objects: when taking a hostage, it is public safety; when kidnapping, it is personal freedom.
By nature of action:
- The taking of a hostage is demonstrative in nature, since the criminals report the fact of the taking to official bodies and the media.
- The kidnapping of a person, as a rule, occurs secretly, and the criminals only inform the relatives of the kidnapped person, especially if they demand a ransom.
Kidnapping is associated in all cases with the movement of the victim from the place where he was located to another place, and hostage taking usually involves the forcible detainment of a person or group of persons at their location (in transport, public or office premises, one’s own apartment, etc. .).
Hostage taking involves the presentation of certain demands to an organization, state or third parties; Kidnapping can be carried out without presenting any requirements.
The goal of the kidnapper is to deprive the victim of his freedom for some personal reason (jealousy, ransom, revenge, etc.). The goal of the hostage taker is to achieve satisfaction of the put forward demands.
So, kidnapping, or kidnapping, is a crime, liability for which is regulated by the rules of Article 126 of the Criminal Code.
Here are the measures of responsibility for this unlawful act, depending on the qualifications of the actions committed.
Groups
Kidnapping (kidnapping, in other words) can be carried out by a certain organized group. It does not matter in relation to whom exactly it was carried out: just an adult or a child. Russian legislation provides for special measures for such an offense.
It is worth noting right away that a restriction of freedom may be imposed. The term should already be clear - 2 years. This is the limit for any type of kidnapping. In addition, prison arrest will be imposed on the kidnappers. Here his term increases to 12 years. The minimum increases to 6. If the kidnapping was committed against children or women, you can count on capital punishment. These are the decisions that judicial practice demonstrates to us.
Problems
Qualifications
The main problem of qualification is the lack of data on, for example, the death of a person.
Was it committed carelessly or deliberately, with the aim of removing witnesses.
Due to the fact that there is no witness to this event, it is very difficult to establish the true motives and this is the main difficulty in qualifying such a crime.
Also, the problem of qualification is the differentiation of compositions among themselves. Sometimes it is not possible to prove the fact of forcible movement of a person to the place of detention and it becomes difficult to distinguish between unlawful deprivation of liberty and abduction .
The kidnapping of two or more persons is often confused with the taking of hostages, due to the multiplicity of victims and some circumstances that cannot be proven.
Children
Also, criminal liability for child abduction comes after the perpetrators are caught. But what exactly is the punishment for this? To be honest, an offense committed against minor children is equivalent to the same act of conspiracy.
It turns out that the punishment will be similar. Each kidnapper can be imprisoned for a maximum of 12 years, as well as additional restrictions on freedom. In practice, the term of imprisonment is set as a maximum. After all, the rights and freedoms of children are protected very actively in Russia.
The victim is not dealt with quickly
According to experienced operatives, the kidnapping of the diplomat’s son was carried out either by seekers of easy money who ended up frightening themselves, or the father was given a warning:
“A direct hint: if you don’t do this or don’t do something, they will move on to an “adult conversation,” says veteran of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Oleg Levinsky . – Motivated kidnappers part with the victim so quickly only in one case – when they kill her, continuing to extort money as if for a living person.
Our expert recalls the tragic death of the sons of the director of the Kramatorsk JSC Tyazhpromkomplekt, which shocked Ukraine in the early 2000s. Natives of Kramatorsk, 31-year-old Dmitry and 24-year-old Denis, were students at KIMO. The eldest owned a brewery, the younger headed a bank branch in his native Kramatorsk. Both disappeared on September 26, 2002 after taking the exam in Kyiv. And in 2004, bodies were found near Kiev near the village of Lesniki - the place was indicated by the detained murderer. It turned out that the brothers were lured into a trap, drugged and killed on the same day. For two whole years, the father, heartbroken and unknown, wandered around Ukraine, fulfilling the cruel demands of the extortionists.
There are also examples of the unprecedented patience of kidnappers. The chairman of the board of PJSC Neftegazdobycha Oleg Seminsky, captured in early February 2012, was held captive for three years, demanding $200 million. But they released him, as the prisoner himself claimed, without receiving anything. For his misadventures, Seminsky blames the former Minister of Transport Nikolai Rudkovsky, who left Ukraine. Two criminal authorities are also allegedly involved in the case. The kidnapping of Seminsky is being investigated by the GPU, but without any visible result.
