One of the most serious crimes in Ukraine is separatism, article 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The punishment for this crime was tightened two years ago by the Verkhovna Rada, up to life imprisonment. Let’s figure out what kind of crime this is, for which the state, represented by the 231st deputy, decided to punish us so severely.
According to the Criminal Code, separatism is defined as “intentional actions committed to change the borders of the territory or state border of Ukraine in violation of the order established by the Constitution of Ukraine, as well as public calls or dissemination of materials with calls to commit such actions.” Does, for example, Nadiya Savchenko’s opinion, expressed recently on Channel 112 that Ukraine should give Crimea to Russia to regain the Donbass, fall under the scope of this article?
To answer this question, we need to understand what is meant by “the order of changing the borders of the territory or state border of Ukraine established by the Constitution of Ukraine,” mentioned in article 110. I did not find a direct reference to this in the Constitution, however, article 133 unequivocally determines the territorial composition of the country, and article 157 states that “The Constitution of Ukraine cannot be changed if the changes are aimed at violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
In other words, the Constitution states that Crimea is Ukraine and there is no way and cannot be a way to change this situation. Meanwhile, the Criminal Code punishes anyone who tries to change the borders of Ukraine outside the order established by the Constitution, which, in turn, is not provided for. It’s simple.
It seems that Savchenko did commit a criminal offense by calling for the “surrender” of Crimea, thereby encroaching on our territorial integrity. Quite foolish, isn’t it?
Moreover, under the same article, former mayors, bloggers, and many others have been held accountable under this article.
The Ukrainian Criminal Code describes many other crimes that, in my opinion, cause great harm to the residents of Ukraine, but the punishments for them are more lenient. For example, up to 12 years of imprisonment for bribery (art.368) or drug smuggling (art.305).
A valid question arises: what is more important to the members of the Verkhovna Rada, the integrity of borders or the quality of life of the people living in them? What is better, five small countries with healthy and happy people, or one large country, one of the world leaders in terms of corruption level and alcohol consumption and hard drugs consumption?
Of course, we would like both: to maintain borders, get rid of corruption, and stop drinking vodka. But, in my opinion, corruption and alcohol should still be at the top of the priority list, rather than the fight to preserve territories that, as we see, do not really strive to remain in this country as we see.
Translated by ChatGPT gpt-3.5-turbo/42 on 2024-04-20 at 14:22
