From childhood you are taught that ignorance of the law does not relieve you of responsibility. And we will repeat again. If you have never heard of some legal norm, this does not mean that you will not be punished for violating it. Sometimes, out of ignorance or stupidity, you can not only get a fine, but even go to places not so remote. “Secret” has collected stupid and not the most obvious reasons why you can run into an article.
Use a pen like “agent 007”
One of the most common and ridiculous ways to become a defendant in a criminal case is to buy so-called spy gadgets. Moreover, you will almost certainly not have a goal to follow someone – most often they fall under the article “Illicit trafficking in special technical means intended for secretly obtaining information” with harmless devices.
For example, because of a pen with a voice recorder or a small camera, a flash drive with a tracker – and other similar little things that are usually bought for fun or to keep an eye on someone. And such entertainment can turn into quite a serious punishment:
- a fine of up to 200,000 rubles or in the amount of income for several months;
- restriction of freedom up to four years;
- forced labor up to four years with a ban on certain positions or a ban on specific work for up to three years (or without it);
- imprisonment up to four years with or without similar prohibitions.
Here’s a recent court case that perfectly illustrates the insidiousness of the article. In December 2022, the Michurinsk court considered the case of a local resident who was accused of illegally purchasing “spy” equipment. A 34-year-old man found a special camera with a transmitter on the Internet in order to pass a theoretical exam for rights. A young man asked his friend to buy it.
The Michuriner did not have time to use the recorder – the equipment was confiscated by employees of the regional department of the FSB of Russia. How the motorist came out is unknown. As a result, the man got off relatively easy – the court nevertheless found him guilty, but punished him only with a fine of 20,000 rubles.
And once the reason for initiating such a case was a GPS tracker for a cow – then they even apologized to the Russian for what happened. Later, the authorities banned the persecution of citizens for such gadgets. But the situation is still ambiguous.
Pick up money
Let’s imagine a situation: you notice a tempting pack of banknotes tied with an elastic band on the sidewalk – and no one seems to be looking for wealth. You are overcome by doubts – is it worth taking the money for yourself (they are no longer needed by anyone!) Or is it better to leave it on the road, out of harm’s way? And now the hand reaches for the cherished bills – and you become a potential criminal.
According to the Civil Code, the finder of a lost thing must try to return it to its owner. To do this, you need to transfer the thing to someone for storage, for example, the bus driver, where you found the women’s handbag, or the hotel representative, if branded boots were lying under the bed in the room.
If a thing is found on the street, then you can keep it with you until the owner is found. It happens that it is not possible to independently find the person who owned the find. Then it’s time to go to the police.
If you simply keep money or someone’s thing for yourself, you may end up in a case of theft or embezzlement. Both carry a maximum sentence of up to two years in prison.
But if you saw a card sticking out of an ATM, took it and spent some money, then you will face up to six years in prison. Even teenagers were detained in such a case – in Novosibirsk, an enterprising 16-year-old girl deducted only 800 rubles from a pensioner’s card and ended up on bail.
patch up the road
Often the initiative is punishable. So, if you really want to improve something yourself, check in advance if you are breaking any law.
A great example is trying to patch up a broken road on your own. Suppose a huge hole appeared on the road to your dacha, and the public utilities do not react – and the road becomes completely impassable. Then you decide to at least add some rubble. So you become a potential intruder. Suddenly you do it in a way that makes it even worse.
In general, Russian laws do not separately consider unauthorized road repairs, but the article, as they say, can be found on you. For example, there is an article on road damage (a fine for citizens up to 10,000 rubles), and also an article on damage to land (a fine for individuals up to 5,000 rubles). So it is better to try to resolve the issue officially and contact either the public utilities or the local administration.
Here is an example of such a trial. A resident of a Permian village decided to patch up the road – and threw boards over the ruts. Innovations were not appreciated by his neighbor, who complained about unauthorized repairs. As a result, the man was fined 5,000 rubles.
At the same time, the residents themselves can really repair the road, which belongs to the local area or leads to private houses in settlements (though not with their own hands). Not everything is so simple here – you will need to call an appraiser, then hire a team of specialists, and after the repair is completed, get an opinion on the acceptance of work.
Shoot a beautiful video
Love for hunting and filming with quadrocopters can also become a reason for initiating a criminal case. To fall under the article, it is enough to encroach on the privacy of another person, for example, try to look into the windows of someone else’s house or take pictures of the faces of people in a neighboring area.
The law protects privacy and provides for punishment for its violation. Illegal collection or dissemination of information that can be regarded as a personal or family secret threatens the violator with a fine of up to 200,000 rubles or even two years in prison.
Such incidents do reach the courts. For example, in 2020, in Chelyabinsk, they considered the case of a video camera above the door in an apartment building. Then the tenants sued the neighbor – they did not want to participate in the shooting.
The owner of the device convinced the judge that the camera was not filming the neighbor’s door, and the plaintiffs were denied. But things could have ended differently if the gadget still filmed the entrance to the apartment and the people who enter it.
But with quadrocopters there is another danger. It is one thing to launch it over a summer cottage, and another in a restricted area. This was apparently not known to a resident of Moscow, who was fined 30,000 rubles for launching a drone near Valdai. So check the information about the territory you are interested in before launching the drone.
Install pirated software
Another way to become a delinquent is to download an unlicensed program from torrents. But ordinary people who install a pirated product exclusively for themselves need not worry – the law only deals with the sale of such illegal software.
In the Criminal Code, this crime is called the illegal use of objects of copyright for the purpose of selling on a large scale. It provides for a different punishment – from a fine of 200,000 rubles to imprisonment for up to two years.
Courts have interpreted this law in different ways. Here is a real case: in 2016, a teacher at the Volgograd State Socio-Pedagogical University decided to earn extra money and installed a pirated version of 1C on a local resident’s laptop for a certain amount. Later, the security forces became aware of this, and his case went to court. The teacher was fined 40,000 rubles, and later the regional court doubled the amount of the fine.
By the way, in the spring of 2022, Russia is thinking about legalizing piracy. Then, due to sanctions, the country was left without licensed software, so we had to look for a way out. Nevertheless, this issue has not been officially resolved, so you should not forget about the current articles.
fool customs
Customs regulations should be taken seriously, especially if you are traveling to an unfamiliar country. But Russia is full of its non-obvious prohibitions. For example, more than five kilograms of fish and seafood, as well as over 250 grams of sturgeon caviar, cannot be exported from the country. And everything that goes beyond the norms will be confiscated.
Or another rule – more than five liters of alcoholic beverages and beer cannot be imported into Russia from abroad (the rest will be confiscated), and only three of them are not subject to duties. The rest will have to be paid – at € 10 per liter.
And if such violations in most cases turn into confiscation, then others already threaten administrative and criminal charges. You can fall under the article if, for example, you try to hide your cargo from customs officers, provide an unreliable declaration, or literally engage in smuggling.
Here is an example: a resident of Nakhodka decided to supply weight loss drugs banned here to the Russian Federation, and then sell them online. He agreed with a friend about the transfer, and as a result, he became a defendant in a criminal case on smuggling.
Post something wrong
Online users now have too many options to end up in court – and even jail. For example, you can get under the article due to the distribution of extremist materials. It was precisely such a violation that was seen in the publication of a resident of Barnaul as far back as November 2011, which the vigilant security forces noticed 10 years later. As a result, the girl was fined 1000 rubles.
You can also pour out anger in the nets – and get on the article for inciting hatred or enmity (both administrative and criminal cases are possible here). Here is an example of such a trial: in 2022, an activist from Vladikavkaz was suspected of such a violation because of his post that the residents of the city did not want to rename Lenin Street. And Alla Pugacheva could well have fallen under a similar article – in the fall of 2022, caring public figures did not like her comparison of haters with “serfs”.
And innovations in the legislation – an article about the spread of fakes about the actions of the Russian army, as well as an article about publicly discrediting the military. According to the first, for example, journalist Alexander Nevzorov (foreign agent) is tried, according to the second, rapper Oksimiron (foreign agent) was fined in 2022. And many more.
Protect yourself from a criminal
Russians have the right to self-defense, but understanding its limits is sometimes difficult – and self-defense can become a crime. There are two articles in the Criminal Code at once – on infliction of moderate or grave harm when the limits of self-defense are exceeded and on murder in similar circumstances. The maximum penalty for them is two years in prison.
So in a situation where you were attacked, you also have to think about whether you are too actively fighting off the criminal. Victims of domestic violence often become defendants in such cases. For example, in 2019, a woman quarreled with a drunk cohabitant. When she cut the bread, he began to choke her. Defending herself, the woman stabbed the man in the chest. Despite damage to his heart and lung, he survived.
Several courts found her guilty at once, and in the end …
