Secret theft of property

Secret misappropriation of property (theft) is currently the most common type of crime in our country. Secret misappropriation of property is understood as the intentional unlawful gratuitous seizure of another's property or right to property for mercenary motives by means of theft. According to official statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for 2016, 37,121 cases of theft were registered in the Republic of Belarus, which is 8.2% less than in 2015, but still a considerable figure.

The cause of such crimes is usually the desire for quick enrichment. Perpetrators in this category of cases are mainly unemployed individuals leading an antisocial lifestyle and abusing alcohol. Such people often treat the results of human labor and other people's property with disregard. They are convinced that it is their gift of fate. Sometimes, the subjects pursue their goals so confidently that damage is caused not only to property but also to the victim's life and health. Such acts not only violate the accepted norms of morality in society and cause public condemnation but also entail criminal liability.

Criminal liability under Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus arises when secret misappropriation of property from an individual in the amount of more than 2 base units (which is 46 denominated Belarusian rubles) and more than 10 base units (230 denominated Belarusian rubles) from a legal entity is committed. The range of punishments for secret misappropriation of property, depending on the severity of the crime committed, is quite wide – from community service to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.

Numerous examples of theft can be provided. They demonstrate both the carelessness and shortsightedness of the perpetrators and the inevitability of punishment.

For example, Semyon, born in 1978, a native of Brest (name changed by the author), working in the Russian Federation, with no prior convictions, while in a state of alcoholic intoxication, in the vestibule of a passenger train car, during a conflict with another person based on suddenly arising personal

hostile relations, inflicted grievous bodily harm on the latter, after which the victim was hospitalized. He, having the intent to unlawfully unlawfully take possession of another's property for mercenary purposes, by theft, secretly stole the victim's wallet worth 991,200 undenominated Belarusian rubles and the cash therein in the amount of 9,000 Russian rubles. The accused fully admitted his guilt and repented of his actions. By the verdict of the Gorodok District Court of the Vitebsk region, Semyon was found guilty under Part 1 of Article 147 (intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm) and Part 1 of Article 205, and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 4 years with referral to an open-type correctional institution. This is not the most severe, but at the same time not the lightest punishment for his unlawful actions.

Assistant to the Vitebsk Transport Prosecutor
Junior Counselor of Justice V.O. Shevernovskaya.