Criminal and Criminological Aspects of Hostage-Taking

The purpose of this article is to study the criminal and criminological aspects of hostage-taking, understanding their cause-and-effect relationships, goals and motives. By referring to the historical aspects of this phenomenon, we came to the conclusion that if in ancient times these "seizures" served mainly as a guarantee of peace between peoples and countries, today it is an act of intimidation and the imposition of illegal actions in order to fulfill their demands. The objectives of the study are to analyze the problems of hostage-taking, clarify the concept of "hostage-taking", consider the motives and goals of these crimes, as well as the moments of their completion. Today in Russia, this crime falls under Article 206 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to this document, the crime is considered completed from the moment of the capture of at least one hostage. The legality or illegality of the demands being made is also important. So, if the conditions for the release of people are intended to "bend" the state power, then this crime clearly falls under Article 206, however, if a person took such a measure in order to draw attention to some problem, then this act will be qualified under another article, for example, arbitrariness. Conclusions: Today hostage-taking is a crime that is classified as terrorist. The reason for such an agreement was the wave of terrorist attacks that swept around the world, with the capture of a large number of people. It should be noted that through joint efforts, despite the isolated cases of such crimes, there has been a noticeable reduction in the number of such crimes. Terrorist attacks involving the capture of civilians are noted mainly in unstable territories, with active military operations. The legislation also provides for cases of avoiding criminal liability for this act. These are cases when hostages are released voluntarily or at the request of the authorities. But the punishment will be avoided only under Article 206, and it will not be possible for others, for example, illegal carrying or possession of weapons. Some legislative flaw, in our opinion, is the omission of the terms for which the hostages were held by the offenders. Since this factor is still essential for many people. Even if people are not physically injured, then moral and psychological trauma is still present. All cases covered in the media are accompanied by reports about the work of psychologists with the released and their relatives.

hostage-taking, detention, terrorism, completed crime, institution of hostage-taking, Article 206 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a crime of a terrorist nature