Commentary to article 170. Calls for the violent overthrow or change of the constitutional order or the violent violation of the unity of the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan

     1. Public calls for the forcible seizure of power, forcible retention of power, undermining the security of the state or forcibly changing the constitutional order, as well as for the violent violation of the integrity of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the unity of its territory, as well as the dissemination of materials of such content for this purpose —      

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

2. The same actions committed with the use of mass media or an organized group, as well as by a person previously convicted under this article, —      

are punishable by a fine in the amount of one to five thousand monthly calculation indices or in the amount of the convicted person's salary or other income for a period of ten months to one year, or by imprisonment for a term of three to seven years.

     The public danger of this crime lies in the fact that calls for the violent overthrow or change of the constitutional order or the violent violation of the unity of the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan infringe on the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the State.      

The direct object of the crime under consideration is the political system of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the normal functioning of the constitutional authorities, and its legitimately elected representatives.      The objective side of the crime is characterized by the following types of acts:      

1) public calls for a violent seizure of power;      

2) public calls for the forcible retention of power;     

3) public calls for a violent change of the constitutional order;      

4) public calls for undermining the security of the State;      

5) public calls for the violent violation of the integrity of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the unity of its territory;      

6) distribution of materials containing the above-mentioned appeals.      

A call is an appeal that calls for direct action; it is a form of influence on people's consciousness in which, through direct appeal to them, motives for a certain type of activity are formed.      The most important feature of criminally punishable appeals is their publicity. This means that the appeals are open, understandable and addressed to a wide range of people, as they aim to organize mass protests against the legitimate government. This is the difference, on the one hand, between conscription and incitement, which involves inciting a particular person to commit a certain crime, and, on the other, between conscription and agitation (propaganda), which does not contain an appeal calling for direct action.      

The content of the first three actions (forcible seizure of power, forcible retention of power and forcible change of the constitutional order), which the perpetrator calls for, coincides with the content of the actions described by us when analyzing the objective side of the crime provided for in art. 168 of the Criminal Code (forcible seizure of power or forcible retention of power).      

Public calls to undermine the security of the state are calls to commit other crimes against the foundations of the constitutional order and security of the Republic of Kazakhstan (for example, public calls to commit high treason, attacks on the life of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, sabotage, etc.).     

Considering public calls for the violent violation of the integrity of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the unity of its territory as the next type of this crime, it should be noted that the sovereignty of the Republic, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, extends to its entire territory, and the State ensures the integrity and inviolability of its territory. The territory of the Republic cannot be changed without its consent, therefore, any attempts to change the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan in violation of the stated constitutional provisions, as well as calls for such actions, entail criminal liability.      

The dissemination of materials containing the above-mentioned appeals should be understood as the dissemination of information of any form (literary works, leaflets, videos, etc.) to a wide range of people in order to arouse their negative mood towards the existing constitutional system and resolve to act against this system.     

Another important feature of the composition of the crime under consideration are calls specifically for the forcible retention of power, for changing the constitutional order or violating the integrity of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the unity of its territory.      

The subjective side of the crime is characterized by direct intent.      

The subject of this crime is any sane individual who has reached the age of 16.      

Part 2 of Article 170 of the Criminal Code provides for increased responsibility for these public appeals, "committed using the media, an organized group, as well as a person previously convicted under this article."   

  In accordance with the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Mass Media" dated July 23, 1999 (with subsequent amendments and additions), mass media means "periodical print media, radio and television programs, documentary films, audiovisual recordings and other forms of periodic or continuous public dissemination of mass media, including web sites in publicly accessible telecommunications social networks (Internet and others)".     

 An organized group is a stable group consisting of two or more persons, whose members have previously joined together to commit one or more crimes.    

 A person who has an outstanding and outstanding criminal record under Article 170 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan is previously convicted under this Article.

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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