The lawyer explained what punishment awaits citizens who attack police officers

On Thursday, November 9, wild footage of a fight between a mature rock fan, 50-year-old Muscovite Natalya Artyomova and a National Guard member, circulated on social networks. The woman, who was given courage by alcohol, entered into an “unequal battle” with an officer of the riot police of the State Guard of the Russian Guard in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region “Bastion”. The reason for the lady’s rage was the cancellation of the performance of her favorite group, for which she came from Moscow to St. Petersburg. In the video, a violent rock fan attacks a riot police officer with her fists and shouts that she “paid money” (for the concert). She tries to kick the National Guard and swears, demanding to “take your hands off her.” In the end, he publicly calls him a “creature.”

After this, the lady was detained and taken to the police. A criminal case was opened against her under two articles at once – 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Thus, in addition to Article 318 “Use of violence against a representative of the authorities,” she is also charged with insulting a riot policeman.

On November 13, news came of a similar incident. A policeman did not allow a drunk Picnic fan to attend the band’s concert in Moscow; the man did not like this, and he decided to express his disagreement with this ban with his fists, attacking a representative of the security forces. It is reported that the man behaved aggressively, spoke obscenely at the police officers, and struck the law enforcement officer several blows to the face and torso with his fist.

“According to the investigation, on November 11, an intoxicated man used violence against a police officer who was on duty on the territory of the VTB Arena complex,” the press service of the capital’s Main Investigative Directorate reported. A criminal case was initiated on the grounds of a crime provided for in Part 1 of Art. 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“use of violence against a representative of the authorities”).

MK spoke with lawyer Stalina Gurevich about the increasing cases of attacks on law enforcement officers and punishment for such offenses:

– How would you explain the reasons why people try to fight with law enforcement officers – they do not understand what this entails?

“This behavior can be explained, in my opinion, by the emotional state of a person, most likely fueled by strong drinks, which, as is known, incite aggression in someone, leading to a loss of self-control and adequacy of perception of what is happening,” explains the lawyer. – Of course, people know about responsibility, after all, we live in a rule-of-law state, and it would be strange not to know such things. You may not know all the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation by heart, but it is impossible not to know that the actions of public order officers are legal and opposition to these actions entails either administrative or criminal liability, depending on the behavior of the violator. And, besides, let me remind you of a simple truth – ignorance of the law does not exempt you from responsibility. Any violence against any person is unlawful.

– So, what are the charges against an attacker on a police officer?

– This is Article 318 (“use of violence against a representative of the authorities”), which provides for liability of up to 10 years in prison, depending on the severity of bodily injuries. Simply using violence against a government official is punishable by up to 5 years in prison, and using violence in a manner dangerous to life and health is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. What does “dangerous” mean – any consequences beyond beatings, if any harm to health is caused, light, moderate or severe.

– Is the punishment the same for attacks on police officers and the National Guard?

– Yes, the same. An attack on any official is punishable under Article 318.

– Let’s say a person only insulted a policeman (riot policeman). How can this be proven if there were only two of them, the employee and the offender?

– Article 319 is called “Public insult of a government official.” There must be a sign of “publicity”. There is numerous judicial practice that suggests that publicity is when civilians are present. There are examples of cases where the accused was acquitted under this article due to the fact that civilian internal affairs officers were present during the insult. In this case, the courts said that this was not publicity because no civilians were present.

Article 319 provides for punishment in the form of a fine or compulsory labor for up to 360 hours, or correctional labor for up to a year.

Disobedience to a representative of authority is a code of administrative offense. There is an article “Disobedience to the lawful order of a police officer, military personnel, employee of the federal security service …” and other persons, which also includes “obstruction of the performance of official duties,” under which the violator faces a fine or administrative arrest.

Let us remind you that rock fan Natalya Artemova, as heard on the video, called the riot policeman a “creature” in the presence of other people, which was enough to initiate Article 319 “Insult…” against her in addition to Art. 318.

Let us add that, as many people know, according to the same Hollywood films, in the USA any violence against law enforcement officers is punished unusually harshly. It cannot even be compared with the Russian Criminal Code. For assaulting a US police officer, an American citizen is charged with a Class C felony, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison. If a weapon was used in the attack, the charge increases to aggravated assault, in which case the sentence is 25 years. This year, an incident in America became known: a man who attacked several police officers in New York with a knife and wounded them was going to be given up to 80 years in prison.