What punishment does the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provide for “telephone terrorism”?

What is telephone hooliganism

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for article 213 for telephone hooliganism.
This phenomenon has become especially widespread in recent decades. This is due to the fact that now every person has a mobile phone, sometimes more than one. The phenomenon is so widespread that there is even a term for telephone hooligans. They are called pranksters. Most often, teenagers want to call and mock someone. However, they often do not realize that their actions are a violation of the law. To understand exactly what actions can be considered hooliganism over the phone, you need to understand what exactly the legislator means by the concept of hooliganism.

According to the above-mentioned Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, actions are considered hooliganism in the following cases:

• are a gross violation of public order;
• appear as open disrespect for the existing social system and members of society;
• made using weapons of any type, or things capable of acting as such;
• the root cause of which is hatred of any kind: religious, racial, class, etc.;
• committed in a place where there is a large gathering of members of society.

From the above, it becomes clear that criminal liability for telephone hooliganism occurs extremely rarely.

The problem is that it is very difficult to prove the presence of hooligan motives described in Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, this state of affairs does not mean that those who like to have fun in this way can relax. In addition to the Criminal Code, penalties for such actions are also provided for by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

The essence of hooliganism

Prank means telephone prank. That is why telephone hooligans got the name - prankers.

This does not mean that all telephone games are illegal. No one will judge you for playing a joke on your friend on April 1st. It's another matter when your jokes and false threats pose a threat to public safety.

Art. 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, dedicated to hooliganism, regulates those features that distinguish it from illegal fun.

These include:

• Gross violation of public order;
• Expression of open disrespect for surrounding social groups or individuals;
• To carry out the act, weapons or their substitutes are used;
• Hooligan acts are carried out in crowded places;
• The implementation of illegal actions occurs against the background of religious, class, racial, social, etc. hostility.

Both administrative and criminal liability are provided for telephone hooliganism.

Telephone terrorism as a type of hooliganism

Telephone terrorism involves a deliberately false message about an act of terrorism: about an impending or ongoing terrorist act through means of communication.

Acts of terrorism may include explosions, arson, attacks, hostage-taking and other actions that endanger the lives of civilians or create a risk of damage to their property.

Experienced terrorists know that the main condition and possibility of their impunity is their anonymity.

To prevent anyone from identifying the terrorists, they use various tricks and communication methods:

• Calls from payphones;
• Calls from phones that have programs installed to change the caller's voice;
• Calls from fake SIM cards;
• Sending messages via encrypted instant messengers;
• Paper letters placed in mailboxes, etc.

At the same time, legislative bodies, on the contrary, are trying more and more to legitimize methods of total control over all means of communication of citizens in order to suppress false and real terrorist threats.

Today you can only buy a SIM card using your passport, all communication applications are not protected by anonymity, and intelligence agencies easily track the IP addresses of computers.

Most often, objects of social significance become targets of telephone terrorism. To them, according to Art. 207 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation includes the following organizations and institutions:

• Schools;
• Kindergartens;
• Hospitals, clinics, sanatoriums;
• Nursing home;
• Hotels and inns;
• Entertainment institutions (concert halls, sports arenas, clubs, cinemas, shopping centers);
• Passenger transport (metro, planes, trains, stations);
• Banks;
• Police departments or courts.

Goals and consequences of telephone terrorism

By committing such illegal actions and realizing the punishability of such acts, terrorists pursue certain goals.

It is customary to distinguish several similar motives:

• For hooligan reasons;
• To disorient and disorganize law enforcement agencies and intelligence services;
• To divert police attention from real incidents and terrorist attacks.

The public danger of telephone terrorism is manifested in the following characteristics:

• Disruption in the work of specific organizations and institutions, which is fraught with serious losses;
• The emergence of general panic, in which a large number of victims are likely to occur;
• Instilling fear in the heads of a large number of people;
• If distracted from real threats, real victims will not be able to receive the necessary help in a timely manner and in the right amount.

Law enforcement officers are required to verify all reported cases of terrorism. No matter how minimal the probability of negative consequences, no one in the police will risk people’s lives.

There are even special response teams for this, when police, riot police, fire trucks and emergency medical services arrive at the scene at the same time.

Why do children do this?

The number of telephone calls of a hooligan and clearly terrorist nature is still very high.

Approximately half of these calls come from students at educational institutions. institutions. What is this? Is this a child's prank or childish stupidity?

Why do children do this? The most common answer, “I wanted to joke,” does not reveal the real reason.

And there may be more than one:

1. The first is sadistic tendencies in the child’s character; the suffering of others is joy. creating panic, raising the police and teachers and sitting somewhere nearby, watching and laughing at everything that was happening. Of course, this is not normal, and such a child cannot be considered mentally healthy.
2. The second is “ self-affirmation ”. For boys, there are different, so to speak, ordinary ways of “self-affirmation,” such as peer recognition. There are times when the fragile psyche of a child, absorbing all the negativity coming from news about terrorist attacks on radio and television, offers completely absurd ways of self-affirmation.
3. Third, sometimes a child simply does not have enough intelligence to assess the possible consequences.
4. Fourthly, the reasons for such behavior may be purely mercantile: The child may get involved in an argument with someone (ice cream or new roller skates), which will create a real mess at school. He did it, the bet was won.

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.

Goals and Intentions

A person who performs a particular act strives to achieve a certain goal. What, then, is “telephone terrorism” aimed at? The article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not give a clear answer to this question. However, practice shows that this is done:

1. For temporary disruption of the work of specific organizations or enterprises. For example, it is not uncommon for students to call and report a bomb planted in the school building in order to disrupt an upcoming test.
2. To deliberately divert the attention of special services from their direct work.
3. Just for hooligan reasons.

Sometimes such violators are confused with “prankers.” This word comes from the English prank, which means prank, joke or innocent prank. But such people, just for the sake of their own amusement, make fun of their interlocutor, leading him to a frank conversation, the recording of which is then posted on the Internet. Their actions are actually practically harmless telephone hooliganism. With terrorists the situation is different.

Essence of the question

First, we need to figure out what “telephone terrorism” actually is? The article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides a completely comprehensive explanation on this matter. This term refers to the actions of citizens who deliberately report false information regarding an impending act of terrorism.

According to the applicants, this could be arson, explosion or other situations that pose a certain threat to human life or serious material (property damage), or other consequences dangerous to society. As a rule, such calls come from payphones. This is very convenient and safe, since this method has two main positive aspects:

• secrecy (calls from public telephones are extremely difficult to track);
• material benefit (you can contact emergency services for free).

These days, there are many different types of devices used by offenders accused of “telephone terrorism.” The article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not contain a list of them. However, in practice, criminals often use:

• special devices for changing voices;
• prepaid phones;
• dummy SIM cards.

In addition, information can be sent from a computer (email), regular letter or SMS message. This makes it even more difficult to find the offender.

Undesirable consequences

Why is “telephone terrorism” and its consequences so dangerous? The actions of such pranksters are capable of:

1. Create a temporary disruption or partial disorganization of the work of a particular enterprise. This could be a station, factory, airport or any institution, the inaction of which in some cases threatens with serious losses.
2. Provoke serious panic, which, if there is a large crowd of people, can even lead to casualties.
3. Distract first responders from addressing the issues that really matter. People who actually need help will not be able to get it on time.
4. After repeated false statements by the intelligence service, the truth of each subsequent call will be questioned.

To prevent such situations, police stations record all incoming conversations, and also install caller ID, with the help of which you can easily determine the location of a hooligan or prankster.

How to write an application correctly

To contact the police station, a statement is drawn up. It contains the following information:

• name of the police department, last name, first name and patronymic of its head, information about the applicant (full name, address, telephone);
• description of the problem: frequency of phone calls, nature of threats, obscene language, time of calls, other information that will help identify the offender;
• please find the offender and bring him to justice;
• date and signature are added.

You can give a statement to the police in person or through a proxy. The period for consideration of the application is thirty days. If the complaint does not yield results, you can complain to higher management.

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Hooliganism by telephone from the point of view of the Code of Administrative Offenses

The Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation in a number of articles also considers public order as an object of crime.

In particular, Article 20.1 states that it may be violated by actions that:

• express disrespect for the subjects of society;
• grossly violate the established principles among people;
• accompanied by obscene expressions and curses;
• constitute offensive nuisances.

Such acts are punishable by law and are considered petty hooliganism. At the same time, damage to property that does not belong to the subject or its destruction may also be classified as petty hooliganism, which is the subject of this article of the code.

For such an act the punishment is provided:

1. Administrative fine (from five hundred Russian rubles to one thousand).
2. Imprisonment for a period not exceeding fifteen days.

The fine increases to two and a half thousand rubles if the hooligan does not respond to the comments of a representative of the authorities monitoring the observance of order.

Thus, if it is possible to collect evidence that there were calls that violated the order of public life, then a case can be initiated to find the prankster. And if his identity is known or established, a trial begins.

To protect their interests, victims of pranks need to know that annoying phone calls are a violation of the constitutional right of every citizen of the Russian Federation to rest, and, therefore, they can be considered a violation of public order.

Therefore, when a citizen’s rights are violated in this way, it is necessary to immediately file a complaint with the police in order to stop the infringement of one’s rights.

Punishment for telephone terrorism under the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Telephone terrorism is considered a criminal offense, so punishment is imposed after an inquiry by a court of general jurisdiction. The attacker is criminally liable for telephone terrorism under Article 207 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The punishment is imposed by the court. It could be as follows:

• a fine in the amount of 200,000 rubles or in the amount of monthly income or other income received for 18 months;
• correctional labor for up to 1 year;
• arrest for a period of 3 to 4 months;
• imprisonment for up to three years.

When telephone hooligans are punished according to the provisions of the Criminal Code

Cases of bringing pranksters to criminal liability are quite rare. At the same time, it cannot be said that they do not exist at all. It all depends on what the bully says on the phone. The fact is that what was said during a telephone conversation can be punished in accordance with the provisions of other articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

This may include:

1. Telephone terrorism. Article for telephone terrorism - 207 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
2. Threats to the life and health of the interlocutor, if there are reasons to believe that they can be carried out. Responsibility for this is provided for in Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

In a number of Western countries, there are penalties for telephone harassment. The article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for telephone harassment, no matter how indecent and “dirty” it may be. According to the law, actions of this kind are considered petty hooliganism and are punished accordingly - with a fine or administrative arrest.

When pranksters are punished under the Criminal Code

However, it cannot be said unequivocally that telephone entertainment is never punished in accordance with the Criminal Code. Depending on what the hooligan allows himself to do while talking on the phone, certain criminal law provisions may be applied.

Such actions are no longer considered telephone hooliganism. These are much more serious violations.

These include, for example:

• telephone terrorism;
• threats over the phone to life and health, if there is reason to believe that they will be carried out.

If harassment was carried out with threats to life and health, and they are proven in relation to a specific subject, then the offender may face fines, correctional labor and even imprisonment in accordance with Article 119 of the Criminal Code.

However, there are no criminal penalties for someone attempting to harass someone in an indecent manner over the phone.

Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not cover harassment by telephone. The legislator classifies such harassment as petty hooliganism; the best way to protect yourself would be to contact the police, followed by administrative punishment, and change your phone number.

How to counteract

How to fight? Annoying unpleasant calls cause a lot of inconvenience, both moral and physical. How to get rid of telephone hooligans?

One of the easiest ways to combat telephone bullying is to ignore calls and messages.

Modern cellular devices make it easy to avoid unnecessary contact. To do this, you just need to blacklist unwanted contacts or use a special program that allows you to avoid unwanted connections.

If calls come to a landline telephone, which still remains an indispensable technology in offices and large enterprises, then a special caller ID function will help determine the caller’s number - automatic caller ID.

Knowing the bully's number, you can simply not pick up the phone.

Another way to stop calls is to confront the caller. At the same time, it is not forbidden to threaten in response to threats and maintain the same style of conversation as that of the terrorizing interlocutor.

In some cases, this method of struggle can only aggravate the situation, and in others it can stop calls once and for all. It is also recommended to notify the hooligan that his actions fall under administrative and criminal liability provided for by the Codes of the Russian Federation.

If the number is known, how to punish?

Modern landline and cell phones make it easy to identify the caller's number, so it has now become much easier to counter hooligans.

In the case where the offender calls from a mobile or long-distance number to a landline phone, you should contact the operator and clarify the incoming number.

Having found out the exact number, it is necessary to find out as much information as possible regarding the identity of the hooligan with each call, using careful leading questions - this will help to quickly identify the attacker.

It is imperative to record conversations on any recording device that captures speech.

After the necessary material has been collected, you should submit an application to the relevant law enforcement agencies, which, depending on the material provided, will decide whether to initiate a criminal case.

The statement to the police must contain a description of the hooligan's antics in full detail, his number, as well as records of telephone conversations.

In this case, it would be best if the victim identifies the attacker’s number on their own - this will help speed up the process of identifying the attacker.

If law enforcement agencies are inactive, it is recommended to write a statement to higher authorities, for example, the prosecutor's office, which will oblige the police to take appropriate measures to catch the criminal.

You can contact the courts directly if you can determine the identity of the hooligan calling. In this case, it will be possible to initiate a case of an administrative offense.

How are intruders found?

The time when it was almost impossible to find and punish a telephone terrorist is long gone.

Modern methods, specially trained people, high-quality devices make it possible to effectively “figure out” not only a child who is playing around, but also a real criminal.

On the basis of the Ministry of Internal Affairs throughout Russia, about 62 phonoscopic laboratories have been created, containing a huge amount of systematized information about criminals, voice recordings, fingerprints, which make it possible to compare the database with newly received information in a short time.

In some cases, if a telephone terrorist cannot be identified from the database, then experts are brought in for identification.

Such specialists can identify a person, even if the telephone criminal has carefully “disguised” his voice. This is because each person's voice is unique.

A team of several people carefully studies the voice for timbre, intonation, characteristic features of speech, and word patterns. Based on these characteristics, the identity of the caller is determined with 100% accuracy.

Terrorism without terrorism

Article 207 characterizes telephone terrorism as the transmission of initially incorrect information about any acts that could lead to the death of people, their injuries, the destruction of significant objects, etc.

The sanctions for such acts are different than for hooliganism.

They could be:

• a fine not exceeding 200,000 rubles;
• a fine in the amount of salary for a period of no more than 18 months;
• compulsory work for a period of no more than 480 hours;
• correctional work for a period of one to two years;
• forced labor for up to 3 years;
• restriction of freedom of movement for the same period;
• arrest for a period of 3 to 6 months;
• imprisonment for a period of up to three years.

Sometimes the question arises why such “prank” is followed by criminal punishment. The fact is that each such call must be checked by specialists.

Emergency services are removed from their post along with the equipment, instruments, and dogs necessary in such cases. The activity of an object is suspended. Residents of nearby houses are evacuated.

Such a call forces a number of labor-intensive activities that involve significant financial costs. In this regard, the legislator has tightened the punishment for this kind of entertainment.

When the damage is considered large, that is, more than one million rubles, the punishment can be significantly increased:

1. The fine is not more than one million rubles.
2. A fine, the amount of which is equal to the salary for a period of 18 months to 3 years.
3. Imprisonment for five years.

Similar sanctions apply for telephone calls warning about a non-existent terrorist threat. It is not uncommon today for a telephone terrorist to be a child. In this case, the legislator came to the conclusion that it was necessary to punish his parents or guardians.

For telephone terror of a minor they face:

• a fine for their failure to properly raise the child;
• fine for compensation of losses caused by a telephone joke.

Moreover, the sanctions remain in force even when the child becomes an adult, if the fines have not yet been paid at that time.

In any case, both pranksters and their victims need to know that the law provides for telephone violations of order and sanctions for them, and modern technologies in most cases make it possible to identify the violator. The responsibility of violators for telephone hooliganism is laid down in the country's legislative framework, and, therefore, sooner or later the hooligan will be punished.

What responsibilities are provided?

The measure of liability is established by the court after qualifying the violation. Hooligans can get off with a small fine, according to the Code of Administrative Offenses, or lose their freedom if the serious nature of the violations is proven.

Important! Criminal punishment occurs if the hooligan warned that a bomb was planted, or someone was planning to plant an explosive device. In other cases, the violator will face a fine.

The difficulty in considering the case lies in determining the violator and his location. If it is possible to find the offender, the victim may demand compensation in his favor for the moral damage caused.

If you are being harassed by phone calls, you don’t need to let the situation take its course; first of all, you should blacklist the number and cut off the connection. An effective way to deal with violators is to go to court and law enforcement agencies. Punishment for violators is assigned depending on how the offense is classified.

Hooliganism on the telephone is a problem not only for Russia, but also for Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other countries. In Ukraine, false reports about planted explosives are classified under Art. 259 of the Criminal Code. The violator can be punished with imprisonment for a term of two to six years. If, after serving his sentence, the joker takes up his old ways again, the sentence will be from four to eight years. Attackers work not only in the CIS, but also in European countries. Thus, the Eiffel Tower and Chinese planes have already been “mined” several times.