Punishment for disseminating knowingly false reports about an act of terrorism

Consequences of disinformation about terrorism

In any case, when such a message is received, all rescue services urgently go to the sites where an act of terrorism is allegedly planned. People are being evacuated immediately. Internal law enforcement agencies compare their actions with the real threat.

After such messages, hundreds of people are forced to be distracted from important matters. A search is being carried out for objects that may pose a threat and for subjects who notified about the impending terrorist attack by telephone. These are mass events that force hundreds of people from different services to become active, on the one hand, and to look for solutions to the problems of preventing the act, on the other. In any case, the person who reported the impending act will be found and brought to justice. And thousands of people may not receive emergency medical care; a rescue team will not be able to respond to a real fire.

What is telephone hooliganism?

In Russia, the term hooliganism means a violation of social norms, orders and foundations, expressed in rude form.

Hooliganism committed over the phone can be expressed in the following:

1. Prank calls are made to make fun of the victim. They are actively trying to draw a person into a dialogue, imitating the voices of acquaintances. Sometimes, to get a reaction, pranksters just need to remain silent or breathe into the phone.
2. Threats and insults - a troublemaker is driven by the desire to humiliate his interlocutor, mock him, get retaliatory insults, and scare him. Communication is characterized by an abundance of obscene language.
3. Reports of incidents - an organization or special service receives a message about a crime, an act of terrorism, arson, etc. The consequence of a denunciation is the suspension of the activities of institutions, the departure of special teams to a non-existent incident, the waste of funds for evacuation.

Such calls violate the right of citizens to rest and violate the honor and dignity of the victim. In some cases, the actions of “jokers” performed using telephone devices can threaten the life or health of the subscriber.

Criminal liability for disinformation

Even so long ago, such messages could be sent by teenagers simply wanting to disrupt a test, lecture, or exam, but realizing all the consequences of what they had done. But today this is considered a crime, which is strictly prosecuted by law on the basis of Article 207 On knowingly false reporting of an act of terrorism of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

This article applies to sane people starting from the age of fourteen. The danger of a crime is that it violates:

• public order:
• activities of enterprises;
• operation of healthcare systems, emergency medical care, rescue services;
• public transport movement;
• possible evacuation of people;
• operation of socially important facilities.

Verifying the accuracy of information can take several hours of work from numerous services, which causes enormous economic damage. All subsequent losses must be compensated by persons who may simply want to disseminate deliberately false reports about an act of terrorism, without thinking about how exactly this will end for them personally.

Important! Any message about an upcoming terrorist attack, which the caller may consider an innocent prank, is prosecuted and carries serious penalties up to ten years.

Just one such call can result in imprisonment for a term of three to eight, and sometimes up to ten years. Is it worth making jokes like this, taking ambulances, law enforcement agencies, bakeries and other important social facilities away from serious tasks?

Responsibility for a false report of terrorism under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and in practice

Any person making such calls probably does not fully understand what consequences an innocent call will bring for him, which, in his opinion, should simply disrupt lectures or cancel an exam. The reaction to it will follow immediately. This should be for the benefit of saving people, and other services will be involved in identifying the caller. And, as practice shows, they find it quickly enough.

Attention! Responsibility for knowingly making a false report about an act of terrorism means the end of your studies, career and a long stay in prison. Moreover, since December 2022, a law has come into force providing for serious amendments to Articles 205 and 207 of the Criminal Code, relating specifically to these violations . Depending on the severity of the consequences of a “harmless” call, you can go to jail for ten years.

The new law provides new degrees, which correspond to certain sentences for false reports of terrorism.

1. First degree. Fine from two hundred to five hundred thousand rubles, forced labor for three years. In this case, imprisonment is not provided.
2. The second degree concerns reports of mines in schools, kindergartens, hospitals, banks, and train stations. For this, fines from half a million to seven hundred thousand rubles or imprisonment for up to five years are possible.
3. The third degree, which concerns violation of the usual operating hours of government bodies and institutions. These are city governments, various departments. Then the accused faces a fine of up to a million rubles or imprisonment for eight years. It is known that over the past two years the State Duma was “mined” twice. The criminals were detained, but the consequences for them have not yet been reported.
4. The fourth degree is punishable when a false life-saving call results in the death of at least one person. And it doesn’t matter whether it was a person from the rescue service or a simple passer-by. The culprit will have to pay about two million rubles or go to jail for up to ten years.

Cases of telephone terrorism have become more frequent recently, so the government is forced to take such measures. The scary thing is that most adequate, adult people continue to believe that their call is nothing more than a harmless joke.

Case from practice

A young girl, wanting to stop her lover, called the police and reported that there was a bomb on the train. The beloved, of course, was temporarily delayed while the train was checked. Well, the girl now faces five years in prison. No love is worth such sacrifices.

Responsibility for false reporting from minors

It is not clear to everyone that such crimes involve harsh punishments. If sensible people are able to evaluate their actions and calls, then teenagers are not yet able to adequately assess the severity of the consequences of their actions. This should be explained at home by parents, teachers in schools, and law enforcement officers during specialized conversations.

A lot of work is being done, penalties have been tightened, but children continue to play pranks in such a dangerous way. According to statistics from the press service of law enforcement agencies, most of these reports come from persons whose age has not yet reached 14 years, when criminal liability for such crimes arises. Even if a child calls, emergency services are obliged to respond, which is what always happens without exception.

The young attacker has been found, and what awaits him now? A person under 14 years of age is exempt from criminal liability, but he is expected to be registered with a special service for minors or continue his studies in special institutions, depending on his age. All responsibility for the deed falls on the shoulders of his parents, guardians or adoptive parents. As practice shows, this does not end with imprisonment. There are alternative methods of punishment, namely:

• fines calculated in amounts from 200 to 500 thousand rubles;
• collection of the total amount of wages for the last year and a half;
• community service for two hundred days;
• “rest” of relatives in the zone for about three years.

Imprisonment is provided if the relatives of a minor offender do not have the means to compensate for the loss.

What seemingly innocent children's pranks lead to, see in the video:

Case from practice

One of the students, wanting to disrupt a test, called the police and reported that the school had been bombed. After his call, emergency services and ambulance crews were sent to the school. The parents of the “terrorist” were brought to justice. But the prosecutor simply felt sorry for the culprits. The defendants were charged the money spent on the emergency services. Well, the culprit himself remained under the supervision of the juvenile affairs service. After graduating from school, such children are rarely able to continue their studies in higher educational institutions.

If the described “prank” had resulted in serious damage, injury or death, the punishment would have been more severe. In such cases, innocent parents can end up behind bars and stay there for up to 10 years.

Corpus delicti

Like any crime, telephone terrorism has its own strictly regulated composition. If the composition is incomplete and at least one element is missing, the case may fall apart, and the culprit will not be punished.

The composition looks like according to Art. 207 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as follows:

• Object – relationships to maintain public safety measures. This is, speaking in a general sense. When it comes to the private sense, the object in this case is the lives and health of a large number of citizens, threats to the preservation of property, disruption in the work of law enforcement agencies and special services.
• The objective side is the communication of deliberately false information about the time, place and type of terrorist attack. Moreover, the method of transmitting this information does not matter for determining the crime. Such information can be obtained orally, in writing and even through third parties.
• The subject is a sane person over the age of 14 years. Such a low age of criminal responsibility is due to the great popularity of such hooligan acts among schoolchildren.
• The subjective side is direct intent, according to which the guilty person is aware of the falsity of the information being transmitted and the risks of panic and misleading a large number of people. If a person conveyed information about an alleged terrorist attack, being confident in its reality, without the intent to deceive the police, his action will not imply criminal prosecution.

The motives for the crime have no bearing on the criminal offence. For telephone terrorism to take place, it is necessary that false information be transmitted precisely to those persons and to those structures that are obliged to respond to these messages.

If such information was transferred to another person, this act will be considered minor.

Crime under Art. 207 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is considered completed from the moment the addressee of the message receives false information about a terrorist attack.