Page:Siberia and the Exile System Vol 2.djvu/524

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SIBERIA


[Remark.—Banishment to a specified place, even to one's native place, with obligatory residence there, will be allowed only after communication with the Minister of the Interior. Rules for such banishment are set forth in Sections 32-36.]

Section 32. The banishment of a private person by administrative process to any particular locality in European or Asiatic Russia, with obligatory residence there for a specified time, may not take place otherwise than with an observance of the following rules:

Section 33. The proper authority, upon becoming convinced of the necessity for the banishment of a private person, shall make a statement to that effect to the Minister of the Interior, with a detailed explanation of the reasons for the adoption of this measure, and also a proposition with regard to the period of banishment. [Remark.—The preliminary imprisonment of a person thus presented for exile to a specified place may be extended, by authority of the Minister of the Interior, until such time as a decision shall be reached in his case.]

Section 34. Presentations of this kind will be considered by a special council in the Ministry of the Interior, under the presidency of one of the Minister's associates, such council to consist of two members from the Ministry of the Interior and two members from the Ministry of Justice. The decisions of this council shall be submitted to the Minister of the Interior for confirmation.

Section 35. While considering presentations for exile the above-mentioned council may call for supplemental information or explanations, and, in case of necessity, may summon for personal examination the individual nominated for banishment.

Section 36. A period of from one to five years shall be designated as the term for continuous residence in the assigned place of exile. [Remark.—The term of banishment may be shortened or lengthened, in the manner prescribed in Section 34, within the limits set by section 36.[1]]

The following are the sections of the Russian penal code under which political offenders are prosecuted when brought before the courts:

Section 245. All persons found guilty of composing and circulating written or printed documents, books, or representations calculated to create disrespect for the Supreme Authority, or for the personal character of the Gossudar [the Tsar], or for the Government of his Empire, shall be condemned, as insulters of Majesty, to deprivation of all civil rights, and to from ten to twelve years of penal servitude. [This punishment carries

  1. Journal of Civil and Criminal Law [the organ of the St. Petersburg Bar Association], No. 6, Dec, 1881, pp. clv–clxi.