RUSSIAN ORGANIZED CRIME

Russian Organized Crime

Russian Organized Crime

Introduction

The organized crime has existed in Russia since the time of the Tsars and Imperial Russia in the form of banditry and theft. In the Soviet period came the Vor v Zakone or "thieves in law". This class of criminals had to meet certain standards in the prison system. One such rule was that it was forbidden to cooperate with the authorities of any kind. But during the Second World War, prisoners made ??a deal with the government to join the armed forces in exchange for a reduced sentence, prompting his return to prison were attacked and killed by inmates who remained faithful to the rules of the thieves. During the time that the Soviet economy took a turn down, the Very assume control of black market with the help of corrupt officials, providing products such as electronics or extra food for the time of Brezhnev, who were easily accessible to the Soviet citizen(Mallory, 2009).

Discussion

What is organized crime?

There are enduring debates about the precise nature and definition of organized crime. As Morrison (2002) has noted, descriptions of organized crime vary according to the needs and experiences of different investigative or research organizations and individuals'. Nonetheless, in the context of a discussion about trafficking in persons, there is a critical legal definition that provides a useful starting point for a discussion of this issue: the definition of an organized criminal group in the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNCTOC) (UN 2000c).

Organized crime in Russia

Organized crime in Russia is not a new phenomenon. Presumably, the first criminal groups have emerged in Russia in the sixteenth century. In the early twentieth century, disputes the Russians were involved in organized crime in Europe and USA.The origins of modern organized crime in Russia are the 60's XX. It was then that the Soviet Union, the first organized criminal groups. In subsequent decades followed growth in the number of groups, as well as increased their degree of organization.With the collapse of the Soviet Union, accompanied by rapid changes in politics and economics there has been a sharp increase in crime. Decentralization and loss of control by the authorities on many spheres of life meant that criminal groups have gained relatively easy access to weapons, explosives and other devices that may facilitate criminal dealings. The release of the economy and the internal market in great demand in Russia and other CIS countries for all kinds of consumer goods led to a growing interest in business crime. There are no clear rules in business and the imperfection of the legal system in a great way to facilitate different types of embezzlement, crimes related to privatization, and money laundering. At the same time the Russian mafia has become a violent illegal structure, having a significant impact on the legal authorities. The processes described above were accompanied by a massive outflow of well-trained officers from such departments as the KGB, the police, the army. These people largely reinforced the potential of criminal structures ...