The Supreme Court of Russia has allowed the use of knives for self-defense if there are many attackers and the danger also threatens children. This is stated in a review of case law approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Court and published on the official website of the judicial body.
The reason for the Supreme Court's clarification was the case of a resident of Tver. During a family celebration, one of his guests had a conflict with a neighbor, who called her son and asked him to come and deal with the person who had offended her. The neighbor's son arrived drunk with two friends. As a result, three men broke into the territory of a private house and began to beat the guests and the owner himself, who was holding his little daughter, with wooden sticks.
In response, the owner of the house pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed three of the attackers. The man is charged with murder of two or more persons, which provides for a penalty in the form of imprisonment for a term of 8 to 20 years with restriction of freedom for a term of 1 to 2 years, or life imprisonment, or the death penalty. However, the court issued an acquittal, considering the incident to be self-defense.
The case reached the Supreme Court; The victims challenged the acquittal, but the Supreme Court's criminal panel considered the qualification correct and left the verdict unchanged.
„The court came to a reasonable conclusion that the number of attackers, their aggressive behavior, the circumstances and nature of the physical violence used in the presence of small children against the acquitted himself, other persons who were on the territory of his home, in the evening, as well as the suddenness of the attack and the use of objects used as weapons by the attackers, give the acquitted the right to take adequate measures to protect himself, his family, including a small child, and other persons“, the document says.
The case was included in the review of case law to ensure its uniformity; now other courts should be guided by this example when making decisions.