New article of the Criminal Code: a fine or imprisonment for insulting a military man
10 July 18:20
MPs are planning to punish civilians for insulting a serviceman, violence and threats to him and his family, including those who serve in the TCC. As it turned out, until now, this could be done with impunity. A group of MPs from the Servant of the People faction decided to rectify the situation by registering a bill.
Komersant found out what punishment Ukrainians could face.
The Verkhovna Rada has registered a draft law “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine on Improving Liability for Threats or Violence Against a Serviceman and Insult to His Honor and Dignity.” It states that Article 435-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine establishes criminal liability for threats to a serviceman, as well as for insulting his honor and dignity. And according to part 2 of Article 401 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, only servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service, the National Guard Service, other military formations, the State Special Transport Service, the State Special Communications Service and other persons specified by law are liable for crimes under Chapter XIX. In other words, literally speaking, only the military can be held liable under Article 435-1, which, according to the MPs, creates legal uncertainty.
“In practice, most of these crimes are committed by civilians who threaten to kill, use violence or destroy property. But such actions also harm public relations in the field of defense. Thus, the object of the crime under Art. 435-1 is public relations ensuring defense and national security, as in Articles 111-114-2 of the Criminal Code. Any person should be held responsible, not just the military,” the explanatory note says.
Civilians will now be responsible for their words
The MPs propose to add a new Article 345-2 to the Criminal Code in Section XV of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – “Threats or violence against a serviceman and insult to his honor and dignity.”
1.Insult to the honor and dignity of a serviceman or his relatives in connection with his participation in measures to ensure national security and defense – a fine of 1,000 to 4,000 NMDG (UAH 17,000 to 68,000), or community service (120-240 hours), or correctional labor/probationary supervision for up to 3 years, or imprisonment for 1-3 years.
2. Threats of murder, violence, or destruction of property – restriction of liberty for 3-5 years or imprisonment for the same period.
3. Intentionally causing beatings or light/medium bodily harm
restriction of liberty for 3-5 years or imprisonment for 3-7 years.
4. Grievous bodily harm – imprisonment for 5-8 years.
5. Repeated crimes or crimes committed by a group of people in collusion – imprisonment for 8-12 years.
Insults are mostly directed at TCC employees
According to the authors of the draft law, these provisions will help to clearly qualify crimes, protect servicemen from attacks on their honor, dignity and safety, and bring legislation in line with current realities.
However, lawyers see it primarily as an attempt to protect the employees of the TCC who perform the functions of alerting the public.
“Unfortunately, today most of the insults are directed at TCC employees during the “street alert”. And these are military personnel. And civilians receive nothing for threats, curses, insults. It seems that the bill was written specifically for the TCC. I have not heard of military personnel from combat units being massively insulted, except in domestic cases,” said lawyer Serhiy Vasylets.
Lawyer Oleh Leontiev adds:
“The deputies are starting from the wrong place – it is necessary to protect the military socially. Many wounded are left alone with their problems. As for the TCCs, yes, many of them behave defiantly and disrespectfully towards the mobilized. But we cannot support civilians’ rudeness in return either.”
As a result, it turns out that only military personnel from the TCC, who have military cards and wear uniforms, are engaged in notification (“busification”). They are the ones who are most often targeted by the population. Civilians do not do this, so it is the military personnel from the CCC that the draft law aims to protect.
By the way, MP Oleksiy Honcharenko recently appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Defense to revise the uniforms for the CCC employees. “TCCs should not wear the ‘pixel’. People are already embarrassed to wear military uniforms because civilians avoid contact or even get into fights.
Author: Alla Dunina
