Texting to threaten others, when will it be criminally prosecuted?
In response to recent information that the investigation agency has initiated two cases of threatening to kill people and arrested two people for texting threats to kill the provincial chairman, many readers wonder what crimes can be committed by texting threats to others, and at what level will it only be administratively handled, and when will it be criminally handled?
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| Illustration photo. Source Internet |
Regarding the above issue, Lawyer Vu Tien Vinh (Hanoi) analyzed: A message is considered a death threat when the content shows that it will take the life of the recipient or their relatives. The content of the message may not mention how the person will be killed or may be specifically described as burning down a house, causing a traffic accident, shooting, stabbing, etc., but it makes the threatened person fear that this will be carried out.
Sending a text message threatening to kill someone, combined with other actions to make the victim aware that this could happen, will be considered a crime of “Threatening to kill someone”, according to Article 103 of the Penal Code. If there is an act of threatening to kill someone but the person being threatened is not really worried about the consequences, this crime is not committed.
The nature and crime of the crime of “Threatening to kill” are completely different from the crime of “Terrorism”. Regarding the crime of “terrorism”, the purpose of the criminal is to oppose the people’s government, so there is an act of violating the life of officials, civil servants or citizens.
The crime of “Terrorism” and the crime of “Threatening to kill” are completely different in terms of the object (subject) violated. The object of the crime of “terrorism” is the strength and safety of the people’s government. Through violating the lives of officials, civil servants, and citizens, the offender aims to weaken the people’s government. The crime of “Terrorism” has the highest penalty of death, while the crime of “Threatening to kill” has the maximum penalty of 7 years in prison.
If the target of the threatening text message is a leader or state official, the offender will be determined to have aggravating circumstances, according to Clause 2, Article 103, with a prison sentence of two to seven years.
If the text message does not contain a threat to kill someone but is just a normal threat to force the recipient to fulfill the demands, this act is not a criminal offense but is subject to administrative penalties. According to Point b, Clause 1, Article 40 of Decree No. 83/2011/ND-CP, anyone who takes advantage of telecommunications activities to commit one of the following acts: "threatening, harassing, insulting, distorting, slandering the reputation of an organization, honor, dignity, reputation of another person" shall be fined 10-20 million VND.
When receiving threatening messages, the recipient of the message needs to file a complaint against the threateer to the district police investigation agency with relevant documents to protect his/her legitimate rights and interests. Based on the investigation results, depending on the level of the "terrorist" message, the person will be subject to administrative or criminal sanctions for a corresponding crime as prescribed in the Penal Code.
According to Vietnamese Law
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