Editing Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code) (section)

==Application==
{{More citations needed|date=September 2019}}
Sentences were long, up to 25 years, and frequently extended indefinitely without trial or consultation.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} Inmates under Article 58 were known as "politichesky" (полити́ческий, short for полити́ческий заключённый, "politichesky zakliuchonny" or "[[political prisoner]]"), as opposed to common criminals, "ugolovnik" (уголо́вник).{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} Often prisoners would be released without the right to settle within [[101st kilometre|100 km of large cities]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Section 10 of Article 58 made "propaganda and agitation against the Soviet Union" a triable offence, whilst section 12 allowed for onlookers to be prosecuted for not reporting instances of section 10. In effect, Article 58 was [[Full Powers|carte blanche]] for the [[List of Soviet secret police agencies|secret police]] to arrest and imprison anyone deemed suspicious, making for its use as a political weapon.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Article 58 was applied to Soviet citizens outside the USSR as well. In the [[Soviet occupation zone|Soviet occupation zone of Germany]] people were interned as "spies" for suspected opposition to the Stalinist regime, e.g. for contacts with organizations based in the [[Allied Occupation Zones in Germany|Western occupation zones]], on the basis of Article 58 of the Soviet penal code.<ref name=Cornelius129>Kai Cornelius, ''Vom spurlosen Verschwindenlassen zur Benachrichtigungspflicht bei Festnahmen'', BWV Verlag, 2004, p.129, {{ISBN|3-8305-1165-5}}</ref> In the [[NKVD special camps|NKVD special camp]] in [[Bautzen]], 66% of the inmates fell into this category.<ref name=Cornelius129/>