# Hanssen the Spy--How to Punish the Bastard? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 4, 2001, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanssen-the-spy-how-to-punish-the-bastard/56723 "2001-03-04T15:16:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![timothy98765](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@timothy98765](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/timothy98765)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanssen-the-spy-how-to-punish-the-bastard/56723/21 "2001-03-06T00:24:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SpyderA48 \* > \*\* > > That’s how they killed that famous child molester/serial killer some years ago. A movie was made out of it and, yes, I did read about the then popular method of Russian execution in some information concerning Russian prisons and Gulags. \*\* You mean Andrei Chikatilo, the butcher of Rostov? I saw that movie too. One half of the movie was pathetically wrong, the other half was laughably inaccurate. Here’s the way it’s done (or, more exactly, used to be done; Russia declared moratorium on death penalty in 1998). Local Prosecutor (roughly similar to a district Attorney in the US) the day before execution visits the prisoner and declares that his request for clemency (filed automatically on behalf of a person sentenced to die) had been denied by the Presidium of the Supreme Court and that the execution is scheduled for the next day. Next day, Prosecutor, warden, and couple of guards enter the cell, Prosecutor reads a shortened version of court’s sentence (something like “Mr.X., you’ve been sentenced to the highest degree of punishment”–that’s what death penalty called–“for such-and-such crimes committed on such-and-such dates” ). After that, the condemned man is led to a special chamber, where he’s shot behind the right ear. Execution is carried out using standard issue 8-mm TT pistol. Now, you don’t have to know all these details–after all, we’re not on “execution Jeopardy” here. But do you believe everything you watch on TV? Really? How about just a tiny bit of skepticism? Here’s example of what I saw on A&E just 2 months ago. They had some special on (coincidence?) Russian history. So, we are shown the Red Square and the anchor says:" Behind me is the Kremlin, where, for more than a thousand years, Russian emperors and Soviet rulers made decisions affecting millions of lives" This was the funniest thing I heard in a long time. Taking into account the fact that Moscow was founded in 1047 AD and Kremlin was built around 1156 and what we see as today’s Kremlin wasn’t built until 1480 AD, it’s kinda hard to see " more than a thousand years". Furthermore ,first Russian Emperor (Peter the Great) actually became the emperor only in 1721 and Immediately moved the capital to St.Petersburg. So, those “decisions affecting millions of lives” weren’t made in Kremlin; they were made in the Winter Palace,St.Petersburg.Do those guys at A&E even bother to check the facts or they think that people’s gullibility and willingness to believe any BS they are fed allows them to produce these shitty “documentaries”? In my personal expirience, A&E is bullshiting viewers around 50% of the time,Discovery about 25%, and History Channel is doing it reasonable 10%. Now, if you excuse me, I’m gonna watch some TV news. They provide even more entertainment than A&E. ---
**Author:** ![SpyderA48](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@SpyderA48](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyderA48)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanssen-the-spy-how-to-punish-the-bastard/56723/22 "2001-03-06T03:20:49Z")
Make that two Midol for you and a nap. ---
**Author:** ![tsunamisurfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@tsunamisurfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsunamisurfer)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanssen-the-spy-how-to-punish-the-bastard/56723/23 "2001-03-06T03:45:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ice Wolf \* > \*\*Just for those of us who are out of town, guys: > > 1. Who’s Hansson? > 2. Is there a separate **Country Squire** opinion and a **tsunamisurfer** opinion? (Flatmates? Computer sharers? What) – This already posed by **mattk** > 3. Hi Opal! 😃 \*\* One PC divided between three SDers is bad enough. But when one of them has two D.S. high schoolers with penchants for online snooping and my Rolodex with critical passwords (online investing, SD, bank…), all kinds of shi\* hits the fan. My conversation with Ameritrade was a real doozy. –T.S. ---
**Author:** ![gorkamorka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gorkamorka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gorkamorka)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanssen-the-spy-how-to-punish-the-bastard/56723/24 "2001-03-06T04:20:07Z")
Death by pachyderm-inflicted butt rape :eek: . ---
**Author:** ![tclouie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@tclouie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tclouie)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanssen-the-spy-how-to-punish-the-bastard/56723/25 "2001-03-06T10:55:11Z")
How 'bout some Pepto Bismol for SpyderA48? For those Midol one-liners he keeps spewing out like diarrhea. Maybe with the right medication, he’ll have to actually come up with something intelligent to say. Or at least a more creative insult. Or just take it to the Pit. Not that I care. ---
**Author:** ![tclouie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@tclouie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tclouie)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanssen-the-spy-how-to-punish-the-bastard/56723/26 "2001-03-06T11:02:56Z")
How 'bout some Pepto Bismol for SpyderA48? For those Midol one-liners he keeps spewing out like diarrhea. Maybe with the right medication, he’ll have to actually come up with something intelligent to say. Or at least a more creative insult. Or just take it to the Pit. Not that I care. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanssen-the-spy-how-to-punish-the-bastard/56723/27 "2001-03-06T11:28:21Z")
Uh, everybody here does know that there’s no way on Earth that Hanssen is going to be convicted of treason, right? He will almost certainly plead guilty to espionage charges, but he is not going to be convicted of treason, or even charged with it. ---
**Author:** ![OrcaChow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47c2d/32.png) [@OrcaChow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrcaChow)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanssen-the-spy-how-to-punish-the-bastard/56723/28 "2001-03-06T22:43:39Z")
If I recall correctly, the charge of treason is applicable only during a formally-declared war. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanssen-the-spy-how-to-punish-the-bastard/56723/29 "2001-03-07T00:40:06Z")
I don’t know if that’s the case, Orca, but treason does have a very specific set of Constitutionally-determined criteria, **and** must involve the testimony of two eyewitnesses who saw it occur. Even Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who gave nuclear secrets to the U.S.S.R. at the height of the Cold War, were not charged with or convicted of treason. They were convicted of, and executed for, espionage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanssen-the-spy-how-to-punish-the-bastard/56723.md?page=1)