Tougher Responsibility for Disclosure of State Secrets

The agenda of today's meeting of the Azerbaijani Parliament included amendments to the Criminal Code on stricter liability for disclosure of state secrets.

Under the bill, now for the disclosure of information constituting a state secret by a person to whom it was entrusted or became known in the service, with no signs of high treason (Article 284.1), the penalty will be from 3 to 6 years imprisonment. Previously, it was punishable by imprisonment from 2 to 5 years.

The same acts resulting in grave consequences will be punished with imprisonment from 4 to 8 years (Article 284.2). Previously, the penalty for this article was provided from 3 to 7 years in prison.

In addition, the Criminal Code is supplemented by a new article 284-1.

For this article, illegal obtaining of information constituting a state secret, items containing state secrets by force or threat of force or other coercion, fraud, robbery, or by technical means, with no signs of high treason or espionage, will be punished with a prison sentence of 2 to 5 years. -06D-