What is desertion? Penalties of up to 12 years imprisonment for act of desertion in Vietnam

What is desertion? Penalties of up to 12 years imprisonment for act of desertion in Vietnam(Internet image)

1. What is desertion?

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 402 of the Criminal Code, desertion is the crime of leaving the unit to evade military service whether in wartime or while having incurred a disciplinary penalty for the same offence or causing serious consequences.

However, now in peacetime, the phrase "deserve" is also used to refer to those who leave the unit or do not return to the military unit to which they are assigned to train and train for the purpose of evading the service.

2. What are penalties for desertion in Vietnam?

2.1 Deserters may results in being disciplined, stripped of military title, and forced to resign in Vietnam

According to Article 20 of Circular 16/2020/TT-BQP, people who commit acts of desertion may be disciplined as follows:

- For the first time, officers, professional soldiers, workers, and defense officers shall be disciplined from a warning to a salary reduction or military rank reduction for arbitrary leaving the unit; for non-commissioned officers and soldiers for more than seven (7) days, but not in the cases specified in the Penal Code, they shall be disciplined from a warning to a salary reduction or military rank reduction.

They will face demotion, dismissal, loss of officer rank, loss of military title, and forced resignation, if they

+ Cause serious consequences, albeit minor ones;

+ Violate while on duty;

+ Has been disciplined but still commits violations;

+ Get others involved.

2.2 Penalties of up to 12 years imprisonment for act of desertion in Vietnam

Article 402 of the Criminal Code stipulates that any person who commit desertion shall criminally prosecuted as follows:

- A penalty of up to 03 years' community sentence or 06 - 36 months' imprisonment.

- This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 02 - 07 years' imprisonment:

+ The offender is a commander or commissioned officer;

+ The offender drags another person into committing the offence;

+ The offender carries, abandons military weapons or equipment or secret documents;

+ The offence results in very serious consequences.

- This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 05 - 12 years' imprisonment:

+ The offence is committed in battle;

+ The offence is committed in a warzone;

+ The offence is committed during a rescue mission;

+ The offence is committed in time of emergency;

+ The offence results in extremely serious consequences.

3. Acts of sheltering and concealment of deserting soldiers in Vietnam

03 acts are considered to be sheltering and concealment of deserting soldiers specified in Article 7 of Circular 95/2014/TT-BQP, including:

- Allowing the deserting soldier to stay in one's house or on the premises of a regulatory body or organization without reporting to the competent person or authority.

- Helping the deserting soldier go into hiding or providing the deserting soldier with equipment and materials needed to go into hiding.

- Preparing documents to legalize the desertion.

Nhu Mai

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