Criminal investigation of extortion-motivated kidnapping

Abstract

In its nature, kidnapping is an atypical act of violence which deprives the passive subject of the right of movement. In terms of criminal law, it involves unlawful seizure or detention of a person by use of force, threat or deceit, for a particular purpose. Depending on the division criteria, theory, legislation and practice distinguish among a large number of modalities. The basic and most comprehensive division derives from the motive of the perpetrators, based on which a distinction can be made between extortion-motivated kidnapping (for profit) and coercive kidnappings. Criminal investigations of extortion-motivated kidnapping can basically be differentiated into those conducted while the abducted persons are deprived of their liberty and held in unknown locations and the ones conducted after a kidnapping case is closed, that is, after the abducted person has been freed or, in the worst case scenario, deprived of his/her life. In cases when the victims are held by the kidnappers, criminal investigations have to be based on the principle that the main objective is to locate and liberate the abducted persons, without any consequences to them caused by the investigation, and the task of finding and apprehending the kidnappers comes only second. The paper focuses on criminal investigations of extortion-driven kidnapping reported by persons close to the victims, willing to cooperate in order to release the victims as the primary objective and the apprehension of the offenders as the secondary objective of the investigation.

Otmica je akt nasilja kojim se pasivnom subjektu oduzima sloboda kretanja. U Krivično-pravnom smislu pod otmicom se podrazumeva protivpravno odvođenje ili zadržavanje nekog lica, upotrebom sile, pretnje ili obmane, sa određenim ciljem. Zavisno od kriterijuma podele, u teoriji, zakonodavstvu i praksi se može razlikovati više modaliteta otmica. Osnovna i najobuhvatnija podela proizlazi iz motiva vršenja - reč je o razlikovanju iznuđivačkih (koristoljubivih) i prinuđivačkih otmica. Kriminalističke istrage iznuđivačkih otmica se suštinski mogu diferencirati na one koje se vode dok je oteto lice lišeno slobode i nalazi se na nepoznatoj lokaciji i istrage koje se realizuju nakon što je otmica završena, u smislu da je oteti oslobođen ili je, u najgorem slučaju, lišen života. U slučajevima kada se žrtva nalazi u rukama otmičara, kriminalistička istraga mora počivati na principu da je njen osnovni cilj pronalaženje i oslobađanje otetog, bez bilo kakvih posledica po njega uzrokovanih samom istragom. U radu se razmatraju kriminalističke istrage iznuđivačkih otmica prijavljenih od strane lica bliskih otetom, spremnih na saradnju kako bi se žrtva oslobodila, kao njihovog primarnog, i lišenja slobode prestupnika, kao sekundarnog cilja istrage.