Commentary on Article 174. Incitement of Social, National, Tribal, Racial, Class or Religious Discord of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan

1. Intentional actions aimed at inciting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord, insulting the national honour and dignity or religious feelings of citizens, as well as propaganda of the exclusivity, superiority or inferiority of citizens on the grounds of their attitude towards religion, class, national, tribal or racial affiliation, if these acts are committed publicly or through the use of mass media or telecommunications networks, as well as by producing or distributing literature or other information media promoting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord, —

shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of two thousand to seven thousand monthly calculation indices, or restriction of liberty for a term of two to seven years, or imprisonment for the same term.

2. The same actions committed by a group of persons, a group of persons by prior conspiracy, or repeatedly, or involving violence or the threat of its use, as well as those committed by a person using their official position or by a leader of a public association, including through the use of funds received from foreign sources, —

shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of five to ten years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years, or without such deprivation.

3. The acts provided for in parts one or two of this Article, committed by a criminal group or resulting in grave consequences, —

shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of twelve to twenty years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years, or without such deprivation.

The necessity of criminalising liability for inciting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord is обусловлена Kazakhstan's recognition, in accordance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, adopted by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2106 (XX) of 21 December 1965, as criminal acts of any dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, any incitement to racial discrimination, as well as all acts of violence or incitement to such acts directed against any race or group of persons of another colour or ethnic origin.

Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2200 A (XXI) of 16 December 1966, establishes that “any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law”.

The necessity of having such a provision in the new legislation is обусловлена by the fact that national and racial equality is the most important condition for the existence and development of any civilised society. Alongside this, the provision under consideration implements the constitutionally established prohibition:

the creation and activities of public associations whose purposes or actions are aimed at forcibly changing the constitutional order, violating the integrity of the Republic, undermining state security, inciting social, racial, national, religious, class and tribal discord, as well as the creation of paramilitary formations not provided for by law, shall be prohibited (paragraph 3 of Article 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan);

no one may be subjected to any discrimination on the grounds of origin, social, official or property status, sex, race, nationality, language, attitude towards religion, beliefs, place of residence or on any other grounds (paragraph 2 of Article 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan);

propaganda or agitation for the forcible alteration of the constitutional order, violation of the integrity of the Republic, undermining state security, war, social, racial, national, religious, class and tribal superiority, as well as the cult of cruelty and violence, shall not be permitted (paragraph 3 of Article 20 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan).

The public danger of the crime is determined by the fact that inciting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord, insulting the national honour and dignity or religious feelings of citizens, and propagating the exclusivity, superiority or inferiority of citizens on the grounds of their attitude towards religion, class, national, tribal or racial affiliation constitute an obstacle to friendly and peaceful relations between nations and may lead to a violation of peace and security among peoples, as well as the harmonious coexistence of individuals within one state. It is particularly dangerous in regions where interethnic relations are characterised by particular tension.

The object of the crime under consideration is the social relations ensuring international peace and safe living conditions for social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious groups of the population.

An additional object is the honour and dignity of citizens, their constitutional rights and freedoms.

The objective element of this crime includes a number of actions (a complex or compound crime) aimed at:

inciting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord;

insulting the national honour and dignity or religious feelings of citizens;

propagating the exclusivity, superiority or inferiority of citizens on the grounds of their attitude towards religion, class, national, tribal or racial affiliation.

These are various actions resulting in the formation of hostility, feelings of revulsion or hatred towards representatives of a particular race, nationality, ethnic or religious group: propaganda of the exclusivity and superiority of one human group over others, degradation of representatives of a particular race, dissemination of false information and various ideas and views about the essence of a particular religious doctrine, giving rise to distrust towards representatives of that denomination, and others.

Incitement is actions aimed at arousing social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord, an attempt to create conflicts between citizens of different nationalities, tribes, races, classes, religious denominations (religious affiliations) and social groups, which may be accompanied by aggressive attacks, physical reprisals or threats thereof, destruction or damage to property, etc., or isolation, alienation, restriction of rights, benefits, privileges, etc.

Information that incites discord is information that contains a negative assessment and forms an attitude towards a particular social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious group, or individual persons as members of such a group, and incites restrictions on their rights or violent actions against them.

The mere communication of certain authentic historical, political, religious and other facts and information does not in itself determine that the information is aimed at inciting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord. The determining factor is the semantic content of such communications.

A social group is a collective of people characterised by the commonality of their social, economic and cultural life, or a group of people sharing a common geographical or social territory, subject to a single political authority and dominant culture, or a circle of people united by common status, origin, interests, etc. Each social group is characterised by certain behavioural norms, including speech norms, determined by the different nature of relationships.

Social discord manifests itself towards a particular social group that is of a mass nature and is formed on the basis of a certain ideological, economic or political separation among the rest of the population (for example, the rich and the poor, urban and rural residents, permanent residents and migrants, residents of the capital and provincials, intellectuals and people with little education, etc.). A group of people may be regarded as a social group as a value protected by law only if the interests and purposes of its members' activities are not unlawful (for example, criminal groups, drug addicts). In this case, the reference is not to professional, family, educational and other “small” social groups, but to “large” social groups.

Criticism of, or calls to restrict the interests of, any group of people should be distinguished from incitement of discord.

A nation is a community of people that has historically developed and formed in a particular territory on the basis of economic and cultural ties and is distinguished by a common language, culture and national character.

A tribe is a collective of blood relatives descended from a common ancestor and bearing a common tribal name. Here, the legislator refers to the tribes existing within the Kazakh people, which constitute the three zhuzes, as well as tribes that are not included in them. It should be noted, however, that tribal divisions have been preserved among many peoples.

Race is a historically formed group of people connected by common origin and possessing common hereditary characteristics. There are three groups of races: Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid. Whereas nationality is determined mainly by socio-biological and cultural factors and may be formed by people belonging to different ethnic groups but sharing a common national language and cultural foundation, races unite certain genetic characteristics.

An estate is a social stratum or group with hereditary rights and obligations established by customs or laws, whose members differ in their legal status.

According to S. I. Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary: “An estate is a social group formed on the basis of the class relations of feudalism, with its own hereditary rights and obligations established by customs or laws.” The Great Encyclopedic Dictionary provides the following definition: “An estate is a social group possessing rights and obligations established by custom or law and passed down by inheritance.” S. I. Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary also contains another interpretation of the term “estate”: “1. In pre-revolutionary Russia: a group of persons united by professional interests. 2. A group or category of persons united by some characteristic.”

In modern Kazakhstani society, the principle of equality of all before the law has been established; there is no hierarchy between representatives of different social groups or professions, and membership in such social groups is not inherited.

The legislation of Kazakhstan does not recognise estate or tribal divisions and does not attach legal significance to affiliation with them. At the same time, there are no grounds for asserting that they have completely disappeared from the traditions and self-consciousness of society, including in foreign countries. In certain countries of the world, estates still formally exist (the United Kingdom, India).

The Criminal Code protects not only the country's internal interests and the rights of citizens, but also the rights of foreigners and stateless persons who are under Kazakhstan's jurisdiction, for whom estate affiliation may be significant. The terms “estate”, “class discord” and “class exclusivity” are enshrined in the Constitution of our Republic (paragraph 3 of Article 5, paragraph 3 of Article 20).

Furthermore, the terms under consideration are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, and the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment.

Religion (faith) is understood as a special form of awareness of the world, обусловленная belief in the existence of a supernatural world and in the governance of the world by divine forces, encompassing a set of moral norms and types of behaviour, rituals, religious practices, and the unification of people into organisations.

Two religions are primarily represented in Kazakhstan: Islam and Christianity, although other religions exist in the world, such as Buddhism. There are various branches within these religions. In addition, there are numerous sects that profess various canons within these religions (and often beyond their boundaries). Some of these sects, by virtue of their worldview, pose a danger to the state and society, and therefore their activities are prosecuted by law.

Discord should be understood as enmity, quarrel, strife, disagreement or dissension between anyone or anything, caused by unfriendly, hostile or hatred-filled relationships or actions.

The dissemination of ideas and views aimed at inciting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord may be carried out in oral, written or visual-demonstrative form. In this case, the ideas and views are of a general nature and are not addressed to a specific individual. For the purposes of qualification, it does not matter whether the characteristics attributed to a particular nation or race, social group or tribe, or religion correspond to reality. The main essence of the act here is to sow mutual distrust among people belonging to different social groups, nationalities, races, estates and religious denominations, and, on the basis of biased, insulting or defamatory judgments, to develop mutual alienation, suspicion, hostility or hatred that develops into persistent enmity.

The manifestation of personal hostility towards representatives of another nation, tribe, race, social group or denomination, including insulting them, constitutes this crime only on the condition that the relevant actions are demonstratively directed at arousing in other persons a feeling of national, social, racial, tribal, class or religious hostility. Personal insult of a representative of a particular group through the use of expressions humiliating to their feelings should be classified as insult (Article 131 of the Criminal Code).

Insulting the national honour and dignity of citizens consists of actions aimed at humiliating the honour and dignity of the specified category of persons, expressed in an indecent form, with the specific purpose of humiliating and insulting, that is, demonstrating the deficiency, inferiority, unattractiveness or limited abilities of people of a particular nationality or an individual citizen. Such actions may occur independently or constitute an integral element of preceding acts of inciting national or religious discord, and are committed with the aim of belittling the national sacred values, way of life, customs and history of development of individual nations, tribes and races.

Honour is a person's moral assessment of their moral and ethical qualities, behaviour and activities. National honour is the moral assessment of the dignity of a people (nation, ethnic group), both by that people itself and by representatives of other ethnic communities. It is based on public recognition of the role of a particular people in a multinational community and its merits in the historical process and cultural development of the community. The native language is one of the most carefully protected attributes of national honour. National honour serves as a special form of reflection of the people's (ethnic group's) identity. Therefore, in contacts with other peoples, through its national honour, it serves as a powerful incentive for the people to further assert themselves and increase their potential.

Dignity is a person's self-assessment of their qualities, abilities, worldview and social significance. Humiliation of national dignity is expressed in the dissemination of false fabrications, distorted or tendentiously selected information about history, culture, customs, psychological characteristics, beliefs, ideas, events, monuments and documents that constitute national or religious values, which disgrace or insult an ethnic or confessional group or its individual representatives as members of that group and contain mockery, revulsion or contempt towards them.

Obstruction of lawful religious activities, violation of the civil rights of individuals on the grounds of their attitude towards religion or insult of their religious feelings, desecration of objects, buildings and places revered by followers of a particular religion are not permitted. Everyone has the right to adhere to religious or other beliefs, disseminate them, participate in the activities of religious associations and engage in missionary activities in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan (subparagraphs 5 and 6 of Article 3 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 11 October 2011 “On Religious Activities and Religious Associations”).

Insulting religious feelings is understood as disrespectful remarks or crude ridicule of religious dogmas and canons professed by a citizen, or of the personal qualities of a citizen associated with their religious affiliation, as well as desecration of revered objects, signs and emblems of ideological symbolism (cynical mockery, humiliation, defamation and ridicule).

Religious feelings are a person's feelings of reverence towards that which, in accordance with their religious beliefs, is sacred to them. In this regard, such sacred objects for a person undoubtedly include their religious beliefs, religious dogmas, the personalities and deeds of saints, as well as sacred images and texts, other objects of religious purpose, and places of religious worship (pilgrimage).

Propaganda is the dissemination of facts, arguments, rumours and other information, including knowingly false information, for the purpose of influencing public opinion, that is, a public act. Propaganda differs from other methods of disseminating knowledge and ideas by its focus on manipulating people's consciousness and behaviour. Therefore, the mere expression by one person of their own opinion in a conversation with another person does not constitute propaganda. The main requirement is that propaganda must pursue the goal of gaining control over and manipulating the consciousness of other people in order to achieve the desired result.

The purpose of negative propaganda is to incite social hostility, escalate social conflicts, aggravate contradictions in society, awaken people's base instincts and the like, thereby allowing people to be divided and made obedient to the will of the propagandist.

Propaganda of the exclusivity and superiority of citizens on the grounds of their attitude towards religion, class, national, tribal or racial affiliation is recognised as the dissemination or explanation of ideas and views about glorifying one nation, tribe, race, estate or religion at the expense of belittling, humiliating, insulting or degrading the merits of citizens belonging to other groups. Such actions may occur independently or constitute an integral element of actions aimed at inciting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord.

Propaganda of the inferiority of citizens is the dissemination of discriminatory assessments of citizens depending on their attitude towards religion, as well as their class, national, tribal or racial affiliation.

National, religious or racial exclusivity or superiority means the predominance, according to certain characteristics, of one group of people over others due to the alleged imperfection (inferiority) of the latter, that is, their supposedly natural, biological, social or moral deficiency or depravity.

The socio-political interests of the subject of propaganda are important for understanding propaganda. From an ideological perspective, the subject always represents a particular social group whose interests are expressed by the propaganda, as well as the relationship between those interests and the interests of society as a whole and of individual groups to which the propaganda is addressed. This, however, does not mean that propaganda is always conducted on behalf of a political party or another specific group of people, but the subject of propaganda objectively always represents the interests of one or another social group.

Criticism of political or religious associations, as well as national or religious beliefs or customs, should not in itself be regarded as an action aimed at inciting hatred or discord. In accordance with international legal standards, the limits of permissible criticism of political figures are broader than those applicable to private individuals. International law also protects proselytism, that is, the freedom of members of any religious community or church to “attempt to persuade” other people through “teaching”.

A mandatory condition for criminal liability for committing the above-mentioned actions is the method of committing the crime:

publicly;

through the use of mass media or telecommunications networks;

by producing literature or other information media promoting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord;

by distributing literature or other information media promoting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord.

The public nature of the above-mentioned actions is expressed in the fact that they are committed in the presence of third parties or, in the case of their written form, with the expectation that other persons will become acquainted with them (for example, posting leaflets, posters or slogans of the relevant content). In addition to the quantitative characteristic of publicity, which means the presence of several persons (two or more), in order to recognise a person's actions as public, it is necessary that the ideas and views disseminated by that person be open and accessible for understanding and perception.

A mass media outlet is a periodical printed publication, television or radio channel, documentary cinematography, audiovisual recording and another form of periodic or continuous public dissemination of mass information, including Internet resources (paragraph 4) of Article 1 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 23 July 1999 “On Mass Media”).

The use of mass media involves the use of television, radio, newspapers, magazines and Internet resources both by their employees (journalists) and by other persons.

A telecommunications network is a set of hardware and software facilities that ensure the transmission of information between information systems, as well as between other telecommunications networks.

According to subparagraph 55) of Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 5 July 2004 “On Communications”, a telecommunications network is a set of telecommunications facilities and communication lines ensuring the transmission of telecommunications messages, consisting of switching equipment (stations, substations, concentrators), line-cable structures (subscriber lines, connecting lines and communication channels), transmission systems and subscriber devices.

See also the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 24 November 2015 “On Informatization”.

The use of telecommunications networks involves the dissemination of ideas and views aimed at inciting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord through Internet services, that is, so-called instant messaging services (for example, Agent.mail.ru, WhatsApp, Telegram, electronic mail, etc.). By using special messaging applications over the Internet, a person carries out the simultaneous and concurrent distribution of information to a large number of people.

The production of literature or other information media promoting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord means actions aimed at producing them through writing, drawing, video and film recording, photography, modification, publishing, copying, etc.

The distribution of literature or other information media promoting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord should be understood as the transfer of such literature or other information media to any other person (one or more).

The main signs of incitement of national, racial and religious discord in an actual text are:

the formation and reinforcement of a negative ethnic stereotype and a negative image of a nation, race or religion;

the transfer of various characteristics and vices of individual representatives to the entire ethnic or religious group;

attributing to all representatives of an ethnic or religious group the desire to follow those ancient customs, beliefs and traditions that are negatively assessed by modern culture;

asserting the natural superiority of one nation, race or religion and the inferiority or depravity of others;

attributing hostile actions and dangerous intentions by one nation, race or religion towards others;

placing blame and responsibility for the actions of individual representatives on the entire ethnic, racial or religious group;

asserting the inherent hostility of a particular nation or race towards others;

asserting the polar opposition and incompatibility of the interests of one ethnic or religious group with the interests of others;

asserting the existence of secret plans or conspiracies by one national or religious group against others;

explaining disasters and misfortunes in the past, present or future by the existence and purposeful activities of certain ethnic, racial or religious groups;

inciting actions against any nation, race or religion;

encouraging or justifying genocide, deportations or repression against representatives of any nation, race or religion;

demanding the exclusion of persons of a particular nationality, race or religious affiliation from various areas of activity;

demanding the restriction of citizens' rights and freedoms or the creation of privileges on national, racial or religious grounds;

threats and incitement to violent acts against persons of a particular nationality, race or religious affiliation.

If one or more of the listed signs are identified in a text, criminal proceedings may be initiated against publishers and authors.

However, such calls and negatively evaluative information may be expressed in a hidden or veiled manner, while remaining sufficiently clear to a broad audience of readers (viewers, listeners). In such cases, in order to correctly qualify unlawful acts related to incitement of national, racial or religious hostility, it is necessary to conduct a specialised examination (a linguistic examination of the disputed text). It is recommended that experts with specialised knowledge in social psychology and linguistics be engaged for the examination.

By its structure, the corpus delicti is formal. The crime is considered completed from the moment the actions described in the law are committed, namely actions aimed at inciting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious hostility or discord, insulting the national honour and dignity or religious feelings of citizens, or propagating the exclusivity, superiority or inferiority of citizens on the grounds of their attitude towards religion, class, national, tribal or racial affiliation, even if relations of hostility and discord have not actually arisen between groups of people belonging to different nations, tribes or races or professing different religions.

The subjective element is characterised by direct intent: the guilty person is aware that they are committing actions aimed at inciting social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious hostility or discord, insulting the national honour and dignity or religious feelings of citizens, as well as propagating exclusivity, superiority or inferiority publicly or through the use of mass media or telecommunications networks, or by producing or distributing literature or other information media containing the specified information, and desires to do so.

The subject of the crime is a physically sane individual who has reached the age of 14. The racial, national or religious affiliation of the perpetrator or victim is irrelevant.

As explained by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan in its Regulatory Resolution dated 8 December 2017 “On Certain Issues of Judicial Practice in the Application of Legislation on Terrorist and Extremist Crimes” (paragraph 3 of clause 5), pursuant to part 3 of Article 15 of the Criminal Code, a minor shall not be subject to criminal liability if, due to a delay in mental development unrelated to a mental disorder, at the time of committing a criminal offence, they were unable to fully understand the actual nature and social danger of their actions (inaction) or to control them.

Part 2 of the Article under consideration establishes liability for the same actions committed by a group of persons, a group of persons by prior conspiracy or repeatedly, or involving violence or the threat of its use, as well as those committed by a person using their official position or by a leader of a public association.

Incitement of social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord is recognised as having been committed by a group of persons if two or more perpetrators jointly participated in its commission without prior conspiracy.

The said acts are recognised as having been committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy if persons who had previously agreed to commit them jointly participated in them.

Repeated commission means the commission of two or more acts provided for by the Article under consideration or its part. In this case, the person must not have been convicted for any of the acts committed or released from criminal liability on the grounds established by law.

Violence under part 2 of the Article under consideration should be understood as the use of physical violence against the victim: striking, beating, restricting their freedom, as well as other violent acts associated with causing physical pain to the victim. In this case, violence encompasses the infliction of minor, moderate or serious harm to health. Additional qualification under Articles 106 and 107 of the Criminal Code is not required. If serious harm to health is caused under aggravating or particularly aggravating circumstances (parts 2 and 3 of Article 106 of the Criminal Code), the perpetrator's actions should be classified under part 3 of Article 174 of the Criminal Code on the grounds of the occurrence of grave consequences.

A threat to use violence as a method of committing the crime is the outward expression of an intention to commit the actions listed in part 1 of the Article under consideration, constituting psychological violence intended to intimidate.

A threat to use violence is a crude, brazen promise to commit an act of violence, usually expressed in a cynical form emphasising a certain superiority of the person making such a promise over the person to whom it is directed, and inseparably associated with the possibility or inevitability of something dangerous occurring. Therefore, a threat may be considered a type of psychological violence against an individual. It represents an intention expressed in any form to cause physical, material or other harm to public or personal interests. A threat must be characterised by the following main features: a) an externally expressed determination to commit an action aimed at causing harm to another person's interests; b) reality, that is, the ability of the threat to create a belief in the possibility of its implementation, where there are all grounds to believe that it may be carried out. The reality of the threat must be assessed taking into account both objective and subjective circumstances. The threat must be specific and real.

Specificity is determined by the threat being addressed to a particular person or persons. The reality of a threat is indicated by its form, nature and content, the situation accompanying it (the place, time and circumstances in which the act is committed), the method of making the threat and the intensity with which it is expressed, etc.

In terms of its form of expression, a threat may be oral, written, direct or conveyed through various means of communication; the main requirement is that it must be real and genuine. It may be expressed openly or anonymously, to one person or to a wide range of persons.

The use of official position, as in the commission of any act involving the use of official duties, primarily means abusing one's official position, deriving advantages and benefits from one's official powers as defined by law or another regulatory legal act, or using official connections and the authority of one's position, regardless of the type of service (state or non-state).

In such cases, additional qualification of the perpetrator's actions under articles providing for liability for official crimes or crimes against the interests of service in commercial and other organisations is not required.

Commission of this crime by a leader of a public association means its commission by the head of a public association or another participant of a public association who, through their influence and authority, is capable of independently exercising managerial influence over the activities of that public association.

According to subparagraph 21) of Article 3 of the Criminal Code, a leader of a public association is the head of a public association, as well as another participant of a public association who, through their influence and authority, is capable of independently exercising managerial influence over the activities of that public association. The corpus delicti provided for in part 2 of Article 174 of the Criminal Code shall also exist where funds received from foreign sources are used.

In the Republic of Kazakhstan, public associations are recognised as political parties, trade unions and other associations of citizens established on a voluntary basis to achieve common goals that do not contradict the legislation. Public associations are non-profit organisations (Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 31 May 1996 “On Public Associations”).

Part 3 of Article 174 of the Criminal Code establishes criminal liability for a particularly aggravated form of the crime — actions provided for in parts 1 and 2 of this Article committed:

by a criminal group (subparagraph 24) of Article 3 of the Criminal Code, part 3 of Article 31);

resulting in grave consequences (subparagraph 4) of Article 3 of the Criminal Code).

However, the question of which consequences should be considered grave in relation to this corpus delicti is a matter of fact, to be resolved taking into account all the circumstances of the case. In relation to the crime under consideration, the following may be recognised as grave consequences: the death of a person; the death of two or more persons; suicide by the victim or the victim's close relative(s); infliction of serious harm to health; infliction of serious harm to the health of two or more persons; infliction of large-scale or especially large-scale damage.

The acts provided for in parts 1 and 2 of Article 174 of the Criminal Code are classified as serious crimes.

The act provided for in part 3 of Article 174 of the Criminal Code is classified as an especially serious crime.

Commentary of 2021 to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan by Isidor Shamilovich Borchashvili, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan, Doctor of Law, Professor, Academician of the Kazakhstan National Academy of Natural Sciences, Member of the Scientific Advisory Councils under the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Member of the Working Group on the Reform of the Law Enforcement System under the Security Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Honoured Employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

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