of the 1960 Russian SFSR Criminal Code (equivalent article in other republics below)
ARTICLE 70 : ANTI-SOVIET AGITATION AND PROPAGANDA
“Agitation or propaganda (main section) carried on for the purpose of subverting or weakening Soviet authority or of committing particular especially dangerous crimes against the state, or the [verbal] spreading for the same purpose of slanderous fabrications which defame the Soviet political and social system, or the circulation or preparation or keeping, for the same purpose, of literature of such content,
“- shall be punished by deprivation of freedom for a term of 6 months to 7 years, with or without additional exile for a term of 2 to 5 years, or by exile for a term of 2 to 5 years.”
Often paired in prosecution (e.g. Chronicle 13.3) with ARTICLE 72:
“Organisational activity directed towards the committing of especially dangerous State crimes, and equally membership of an anti-Soviet organisation”
♦
Equivalent laws in Criminal Codes of other Soviet republics
- Armenian SSR – Articles 65-1 and 67 (e.g. CCE 16.4)
- Latvian SSR – Articles 65 and 67 (e.g. CCE 20.1 [2])
- Lithuanian SSR – Article 68
- Moldavian SSR – Article 67 and 69 (e.g. CCE 20.1 [3])
- Ukrainian SSR – Article 62
- Tajikistan SSR – Articles 67 and 69 (CCE 25.1)
♦
For examples of the application in 1969 and 1970 of Articles 70 and 72 (and the equivalent laws in other Soviet republics), see 17.14 “Those arrested in 1969” and 17.15 “Those arrested and convicted in 1970”.
