Violation of the Rules on the Separation of the Church and the State. 1923

Original Source: Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R. (Moscow: Official Edition, 1923).

119. Utilizing the religious prejudices of the masses with the object of overthrowing the Worker-Peasant government or of rousing opposition to its laws and orders, is punishable by the penalty prescribed in paragraph 69 of the Criminal Code.

120. Fraudulent actions performed for the purpose of rousing superstition among the masses, and also for the purpose of thereby securing any kind of advantages, is punishable by privation of liberty up to one year or forced labor up to one year.

121. Imparting religious instruction in state or private educational institutions to children or minors, is punishable by forced labor up to one year.

122. Any employment of compulsion in making collections in favor of religious organizations and groups, is punishable by forced labor up to six months, by privation up to two years of the right of concluding contracts with local Soviets for the use of ritual property and religious edifices, and by confiscation of the property of the organizations.

123. Assumption by religious or Church organizations of administrative, court or other functions of a public-legal character and of the rights of juridical persons, is punishable by forced labor up to six months, by liquidation of the above mentioned organizations and by confiscation of their property.

124. The performance in Government buildings and institutions of religious ceremonies and also the placing in these buildings of any sort of religious symbols, is punishable by forced labor up to three months or a fine up to 300 gold rubles.

125. Hindering the performance of religious rites, in so far as they do not disturb the public peace and are not accompanied by infractions of the rights of citizens, is punishable by forced labor up to six months.

126. Propaganda and agitation, in the form of instigation of the overthrow of the government of the Soviets by forcible or treasonable actions or by active and passive resistance to the Worker-Peasant Government, or by mass non-compliance with military and tax obligations imposed on citizens, is punishable by privation of liberty for not less than three years with strict isolation.

For the same crimes, committed in circumstances of war or during popular disturbances, the penalty is increased to the extreme limit of the law [the death penalty].

Instigation of non-compliance with, or of opposition to, orders of the central or the local authorities, where counter-revolutionary aims are not proven, is punishable by the penalties prescribed in paragraph 83 of the Criminal Code.

83. Agitation and propaganda of any kind, including the instigation of the crimes defined in paragraph 75-81d, and also the rousing of national hatred and dissension, is punishable by privation of liberty for not less than one year, with strict isolation.

If the agitation and propaganda take place in time of war and are directed toward non-compliance by citizens with military obligations or obligations connected with military operations which have-been imposed on them, the penalty may be increased up to the supreme penalty of the law.

{The paragraphs referred to, 75 to 81d, deal with crimes against the administrative order.}

Source: Boleslaw B. Szczesniak, ed. and tr., Russian Revolution and Religion; a collection of documents concerning the suppression of religion by the Communists, 1917-1925 (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959), 107-108.