Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code)

Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code)

Article 58 of the Russian SFSR Penal Code was put in force on February 25, 1927 to arrest those suspected of counter-revolutionary activities. It was revised several times. In particular, its Article 58-1 was updated by the listed sub-articles and put in force on June 8, 1934.

This article introduced the formal notion of the enemy of workers: those subject to articles 58-2 — 58-13 (those under 58-1 were "traitors", 58-14 were "saboteurs").

Penal codes of other republics of Soviet Union also had articles of similar nature.

ummary

Note: In this section, the phraseology of article 58 is given in quotes.

The article covered the following offenses.

*58-1: Definition of counterrevolutionary activity: :"A counterrevolutionary action is any action aimed at overthrowing, undermining or weakening of the power of workers' and peasants' Soviets... and governments of the USSR and Soviet and autonomous republics, or at the undermining or weakening of the external security of the USSR and main economical, political and national achievements of the proletarial revolution" It was not limited to anti-Soviet acts: by "international solidarity of workers", any other "worker's state" was protected by this article.
**58-1а. Treason: death sentence or 10 years of prison, both cases with property confiscation.
**58-1б. Treason by military personnel: death sentence with property confiscation.
**58-1в. In the case of flight of the offender in treason subject to 58-1б (military personnel only), his relatives were subject to 5-10 years of imprisonment with confiscation or 5 years of Siberia exile, depending on the circumstances: either they helped or knew and didn't report or simply lived with the offender.
**58-1г. Non-reporting of a treason by a military man: 10 years of imprisonment. Non-reporting by others: offense by Article 58-12.

*58-2. Armed uprising or intervention with the goal to seize the power: up to death with confiscation, including formal recognition as "enemy of workers".
*58-3. Contacts with foreigners "with counter-revolutionary purposes" (as defined by 58-1) are subject to Article 58-2.
*58-4. Any kind of help to "international bourgeoisie" which, not recognizing the equality of communist political system, strives to overthrow it: punishment similar to 58-2.
*58-5. Urging any foreign entity to declaration of war, military intervention, blockade, capture of state property, breaking diplomatic relations, breaking international treaties, and other aggressive actions against USSR: similar to 58-2.
*58-6. Espionage. Punishment: similar to 58-2.
*58-7. Undermining of state industry, transport, monetary circulation or credit system, as well as of cooperative societies and organizations, with counter-revolutionary purpose (as defined by 58-1) by means of the corresponding usage of the state institutions, as well as by opposing their normal functioning: same as 58-2. "Note: the offense according to this article was known as wrecking and the offenders were called "wreckers"."
*58-8. Terrorist acts against representatives of Soviet power or of workers and peasants organisations: same as 58-2.
*58-9. Damage of transport, communication, water supply, warehouses and other buildings or state and communal property with counter-revolutionary purpose: same as 58-2.
*58-10. Anti-Soviet and counter-revolutionary propaganda and agitation: at least 6 months of imprisonment. In the conditions of unrest or war: same as 58.2.
*58-11. Any kind of organisational or support actions related to the preparation or execution of the above crimes is equated to the corresponding offenses and prosecuted by the corresponding articles.
*58-12. Non-reporting of a "counter-revolutionary activity": at least 6 months of imprisonment.
*58-13. Active struggle against revolutionary movement of tsarist personnel and members of "counter-revolutionary governments" during the civil war, same as 58-2.
*58-14 (added on June 6th, 1937) "Counter-revolutionary sabotage", i.e., conscious non-execution or deliberately careless execution of "defined duties", aimed at the weakening of the power of the government and of the functioning of the state apparatus is subject to at least one year of freedom deprivation, and under especially aggravating circumstances, up to the highest measure of social protection: execution by shooting with confiscation of property.

Application

The article led to the imprisonment of many prominent people, see , as well as multitudes of nonnotable innocents.

Sentences were long, up to 25 years, and frequently extended indefinitely without trial or consultation. Inmates under Article 58 were known as "politichesky" (полити́ческий), as opposed to common criminals, "ugolovnik" (уголо́вник). Upon release, the prisoner would typically be sent into an exile within Russia without the right to settle closer than 100 km from large cities.

Section 10 of Article 58 made "propaganda and agitation against the Soviet Union" a triable offence, whilst section 12 allowed for onlookers to be prosecuted for not reporting instances of section 10. In effect, Article 58 was carte blanche for the secret police to arrest and imprison anyone deemed suspicious, making for its use as a political weapon. A person could be framed: The latter would arrange an "anti-Soviet" incident in the person's presence and then try the person for it. If the person pleaded innocence, not having reported the incident would also make them liable to imprisonment.

During and after World War II, Article 58 was used to imprison many returned Soviet prisoners of war on the grounds that their capture and detainment by the Axis Powers during the war was proof that they did not fight to the death and were therefore anti-Soviet.

Evolution

After the denunciation of Stalinism by Nikita Khrushchev the code was significantly rewritten.

ee also

*Terrorism_Act_2000#Section_58_-_Collection_of_information
*NKVD Troika
*Gulag
*101 km
*Politics of the Soviet Union
*Soviet law
*White-, a label on those considered anti-Soviet (almost exclusively in the context of the
Russian civil war 1918-1922)

Bibliography

V.A. Kozlov et al (eds.) "58.10. Nadzornye proizvodstva prokuratury SSSR po delam ob antisovetskoi agitatsii i propagande: annotirovannyi katalog" (Moskva: Mezhdunarodnyi Fond "Demokratiia", 1999)
(An annotated account of every single case prosecuted under Article 58.10 of the Soviet Penal Code from the death of Stalin until the fall of Communism with reference to the relevant files in the State Archive of the Russian Federation [GARF] for researchers)

External links

* [http://www.cyberussr.com/rus/uk58-e.html#58-1a Extracts from Article 58 (in English)]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Article 58 du code penal de la RSFSR — Article 58 du code pénal de la RSFSR L article 58 du code pénal de la RSFSR (République socialiste fédérative soviétique de Russie) a été instauré le 25 février 1927 pour arrêter les personnes soupçonnées d activités contre révolutionnaires. Il a …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Article 58 du code pénal de la RSFSR — L article 58 du code pénal de la RSFSR (République socialiste fédérative soviétique de Russie) a été instauré le 25 février 1927 pour arrêter les personnes soupçonnées d activités contre révolutionnaires. Il a été revu plusieurs fois et étendu… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Yevgenia Ginzburg — (November 20, 1904 [Moscow] May 25, 1977) (Russian language: Евгения Соломонова Гинзбург) [A. L. Litvin (comp.) Dva sledstvennykh dela Evgenii Ginzburg (Kazanʹ: Knizhnyĭ Dom: Taves, 1994), p. 23.] was a Russian author who did time in the Gulag.… …   Wikipedia

  • Enemy of the people — Not to be confused with An Enemy of the People (the Henrik Ibsen play), the 2009 documentary film Enemies of the People (film), or Enemy of the state. The term enemy of the people is a fluid designation of political or class opponents of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Nikolai Yezhov — Russian: Николай Иванович Ежов People s Commissar for State Security In office January 27, 1937 – November 25, 1938 …   Wikipedia

  • Reichstag Fire Decree — Das Andere Deutschland s final issue, announcing its own prohibition (Verbot) by the police authorities on the basis of the Reichstag fire decree The Reichstag Fire Decree (German: Reichstagsbrandverordnung) is the common name of the Decree of… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Gulag camps — This enormous, but far from complete list enumerates sites of Soviet forced labor camps ( corrective labor camps ). Most of them served mining, construction, and timber works. Even this incomplete list can give a fair idea of the scale of forced… …   Wikipedia

  • Counter-revolutionary — A counter revolutionary is anyone who opposes a revolution, particularly those who act after a revolution to try to overturn or reverse it, in full or in part. The adjective, counterrevolutionary , pertains to movements that would restore the… …   Wikipedia

  • Russian political jokes — (or, rather, Russophone political jokes) are a part of Russian humour and can be naturally grouped into the major time periods: Imperial Russia, Soviet Union and finally post Soviet Russia. Quite a few political themes can be found among other… …   Wikipedia

  • Varlam Shalamov — Infobox Writer name = Varlam Shalamov imagesize = 200px caption = pseudonym = birthdate = birth date|1907|7|1|mf=y birthplace = Vologda, Russian Empire deathdate = death date and age|1982|1|17|1907|7|1|mf=y deathplace = Tushino, USSR occupation …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”