Commentary to Article 157. Propaganda and public calls for unleashing aggressive war of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan

     1. Propaganda and public calls for the outbreak of aggressive war —      

are punishable by a fine in the amount of up to three thousand monthly calculation indices or in the amount of the convicted person's salary or other income for a period of three to nine months or by imprisonment for a term of up to three years.    

2. The same acts committed with the use of mass media or by an official holding a responsible public position, —      

are punishable by a fine in the amount of up to five thousand monthly calculation indices or in the amount of the convicted person's salary or other income for a period of six months to one year, or by imprisonment for a term of two to five years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years.

     The public danger of the crime in question lies in the ideological, psychological, and political damage to the system of peaceful resolution of interstate relations.

Such appeals are psychological preparation for aggression, preparation for war.      

The direct object of this crime is public relations for the protection of peace and peaceful coexistence of States.    

 The objective side of the crime is expressed:      

1) in the propaganda of aggressive war;    

 2) in public calls for the outbreak of aggressive war.      

Propaganda is the dissemination and in-depth explanation of any ideas, teachings, views, knowledge; ideological impact on the broad masses. Propaganda, by its criminal law nature, is one of the types of incitement.    

 In the criminal law sense, war propaganda is understood as the dissemination of views and ideas aimed at inciting war among a certain circle of people. It can be in the form of an open or disguised call to unleash a world war, a war against any State or group of States. Propaganda can also consist in a general call to justify war as a method of resolving international disputes and disagreements.      

Appeals consist in appealing to an indefinite circle of people in order to convince them of the necessity and expediency of an aggressive war against any nation or state.     

The publicity of appeals is expressed in the fact that they are made directly in the presence of third parties or (in the case of their written form) with the expectation that they will be read by others later (for example, pasting posters or slogans of relevant content).      

The composition of the crime should be considered completed regardless of whether the perpetrator succeeded in provoking the outbreak of an aggressive war.    

The subjective side of the crime is characterized by direct intent. The person is aware that he is publicly calling for the outbreak of an aggressive war, and desires it.      

The subject of the crime provided for in Part 1 of the article in question is any person who has reached the age of sixteen.       Part 2 of Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, among the qualifying signs, provides for the commission of the same actions using mass media or by an official holding a responsible public position.     

The use of mass media involves propaganda and calls for unleashing aggressive war through newspapers, magazines, radio, television, etc.     

Persons holding a responsible public position, in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 307 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, are understood to be persons holding positions established by the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, constitutional and other laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the direct performance of state functions and the powers of state bodies, as well as persons holding political positions of civil servants according to the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on civil service.     

The crimes provided for in Parts 1 and 2 of art. 157 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan are crimes of moderate severity.

Commentary from 2007 to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the Honored Worker of Kazakhstan, Doctor of Law, Professor, Academician of the Kazakhstan National Academy of Natural Sciences BORCHASHVILI I.Sh.                  

Date of amendment of the act:  08/02/2007 Date of adoption of the act:  08/02/2007 Place of acceptance:  NO Authority that adopted the act: 180000000000 Region of operation:  100000000000 NPA registration number assigned by the regulatory body:  167 Status of the act:  new Sphere of legal relations:  028000000000 Report form:  COMM Legal force:  1900 Language of the Act:  rus

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