Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country; attempting to overthrow its government; spying on its military, its diplomats, its officials, or its secret services for a hostile foreign power; or attempting to kill its head of state. A person who commits treason is known in law as a traitor.
Historically, in common law countries, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife or that of a master by his servant. Treason (i.e., disloyalty) against one's monarch was known as high treason and treason against a lesser superior was petty treason. As jurisdictions around the world abolished petty treason, "treason" came to refer to what was historically known as high treason.
At times, the term traitor has been used as a political epithet, regardless of any verifiable treasonable action. In a civil war or insurrection, the winners may deem the losers to be traitors. Likewise the term traitor is used in heated political discussion – typically as a slur against political dissidents, or against officials in power who are perceived as failing to act in the best interest of their constituents. In certain cases, as with the Dolchstoßlegende (stab-in-the-back myth), the accusation of treason towards a large group of people can be a unifying political message.
Contents
History
Frederic William Maitland explained that "Treason is a crime which has a vague circumference and more than one centre".
The Treason Act 1351, called "the pole star of English jurisprudence" by Joseph Story, was the first time treason was defined by statute. During the 12th century the rights of the king were gradually set apart from the other nobles. Beginning with the reign of Edward I the Crown asserted its authority to recognize rebellions ("levying war") as treasonous.
By the Elizabethan age courts had shed the restrictions of statutory treason in favor of constructive treason applied as a form of political control. Edward Coke decides in R v Owen that mere speech about the monarch could be treason if it "disabled his title" in departure from his earlier statement "it is commonly said that bare words may make a heretick, but not a traytor without an overt act".
In English law, high treason was punishable by being hanged, drawn and quartered (men) or burnt at the stake (women), although beheading could be substituted by royal command (usually for royalty and nobility). Those penalties were abolished in 1814, 1790 and 1973 respectively. The penalty was used by later monarchs against people who could reasonably be called traitors. Many of them would now just be considered dissidents.
The words "treason" and "traitor" are derived from the Latin tradere, "to deliver or hand over". Specifically, treason is derived from the term "traditors", which refers to bishops and other Christians who turned over sacred scriptures or betrayed their fellow Christians to the Roman authorities under threat of persecution during the Diocletianic Persecution between AD 303 and 305.
Originally, the crime of treason was conceived of as being committed against the monarch; a subject failing in his duty of loyalty to the sovereign and acting against the sovereign was deemed to be a traitor. Queens Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were executed for treason for adultery against Henry VIII, although most historians regard the evidence against Anne Boleyn and her alleged lovers to be dubious. As asserted in the 18th century trial of Johann Friedrich Struensee in Denmark, a man having sexual relations with a queen can be considered guilty not only of ordinary adultery but also of treason against her husband, the king.
In individual jurisdictions
Australia
In Australia, there are federal and state laws against treason, specifically in the states of New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria. Similarly to treason laws in the United States, citizens of Australia owe allegiance to their sovereign at the federal and state level.
The federal law defining treason in Australia is provided under section 80.1 of the Criminal Code, contained in the schedule of the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995. It defines treason as follows:
A person commits an offence, called treason, if the person:
(a) causes the death of the Sovereign, the heir apparent of the Sovereign, the consort of the Sovereign, the Governor-General or the Prime Minister; or
(b) causes harm to the Sovereign, the Governor-General or the Prime Minister resulting in the death of the Sovereign, the Governor-General or the Prime Minister; or
(c) causes harm to the Sovereign, the Governor-General or the Prime Minister, or imprisons or restrains the Sovereign, the Governor-General or the Prime Minister; or
(d) levies war, or does any act preparatory to levying war, against the Commonwealth; or
(e) engages in conduct that assists by any means whatever, with intent to assist, an enemy:
(i) at war with the Commonwealth, whether or not the existence of a state of war has been declared; and
(ii) specified by Proclamation made for the purpose of this paragraph to be an enemy at war with the Commonwealth; or
(f) engages in conduct that assists by any means whatever, with intent to assist:
Brazil
According to Brazilian law, treason is the crime of disloyalty by a citizen to the Federal Republic of Brazil, applying to combatants of the Brazilian military forces. Treason during wartime is the only crime for which a person can be sentenced to death (see capital punishment in Brazil).
The only military person in the history of Brazil to be convicted of treason was Carlos Lamarca, an army captain who deserted to become the leader of a communist-terrorist guerrilla against the military government.
Canada
Section 46 of the Criminal Code has two degrees of treason, called "high treason" and "treason". However, both of these belong to the historical category of high treason, as opposed to petty treason which does not exist in Canadian law. Section 46 reads as follows:
High treason
(1) Every one commits high treason who, in Canada,
(a) kills or attempts to kill His Majesty, or does him any bodily harm tending to death or destruction, maims or wounds him, or imprisons or restrains him;
(b) levies war against Canada or does any act preparatory thereto; or
(c) assists an enemy at war with Canada, or any armed forces against whom Canadian Forces are engaged in hostilities, whether or not a state of war exists between Canada and the country whose forces they are.
Treason
(2) Every one commits treason who, in Canada,
(a) uses force or violence for the purpose of overthrowing the government of Canada or a province;
(b) without lawful authority, communicates or makes available to an agent of a state other than Canada, military or scientific information or any sketch, plan, model, article, note or document of a military or scientific character that he knows or ought to know may be used by that state for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or defence of Canada;
(c) conspires with any person to commit high treason or to do anything mentioned in paragraph (a);
(d) forms an intention to do anything that is high treason or that is mentioned in paragraph (a) and manifests that intention by an overt act; or
China
In China, there are different laws regarding treason in Mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau. The law defining treason in mainland China is provided under article 102 of the Criminal Law as follows:Whoever colludes with a foreign State to endanger the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of the People's Republic of China shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years.
Section 10 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance provides that:A Chinese citizen who—
(a) joins an external armed force that is at war with China, or is a part of the armed force;
(b) with intent to prejudice the situation of China in a war, assists an enemy at war with China in a war,
(c) levies war against China;
(d) instigates a foreign country or an external armed force to invade China with force; or
(e) with intent to endanger the sovereignty, unity or territorial integrity of China, uses force or threatens to use force,
commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to life imprisonment.where "enemy at war with China" is defined as a government of a foreign country or external armed force that is at war with China and "external armed force" means an armed force that does not belong to China.
Section 11 of the same ordinance also provides that:A Chinese citizen who intends to commit an offence under section 10(1) and publicly manifests such intention commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for 14 years.
Finland
Finnish law distinguishes between two types of treasonable offences: maanpetos, treachery in war, and valtiopetos, an attack against the constitutional order. The terms maanpetos and valtiopetos are unofficially translated as treason and high treason, respectively. Both are punishable by imprisonment, and if aggravated, by life imprisonment.
Maanpetos (translates literally to betrayal of country) consists in joining enemy armed forces, making war against Finland, or serving or collaborating with the enemy. Maanpetos proper can only be committed under conditions of war or the threat of war. Espionage, disclosure of a national secret, and certain other related offences are separately defined under the same rubric in the Finnish criminal code.
Valtiopetos (translates literally to betrayal of state) consists in using violence or the threat of violence, or unconstitutional means, to bring about the overthrow of the Finnish constitution or to overthrow the president, cabinet or parliament or to prevent them from performing their functions.
France
Article 411-1 of the French criminal code defines treason as follows:
The acts defined by articles 411-2 to 411–11 constitute treason where they are committed by a French national or a soldier in the service of France, and constitute espionage where they are committed by any other person.
Article 411-2 prohibits "handing over troops belonging to the French armed forces, or all or part of the national territory, to a foreign power, to a foreign organisation or to an organisation under foreign control, or to their agents". It is punishable by life imprisonment and a fine of €750,000. Generally parole is not available until 18 years of a life sentence have elapsed.
Articles 411–3 to 411–10 define various other crimes of collaboration with the enemy, sabotage, and the like. These are punishable with imprisonment for between seven and 30 years. Article 411-11 make it a crime to incite any of the above crimes.
Besides treason and espionage, there are many other crimes dealing with national security, insurrection, terrorism and so on. These are all to be found in Book IV of the code.
Additionally, the Code de justice militaire contains other crimes termed as treason: Article L331-2 punishes with life in prison every French national or every soldier in the service of France bearing weapons against France in wartime and Article L331-3 punishes with the same sentence anyone who, part of the crew or the passenger of a French military fleet -either sea or air -, either prevent ralliement or cause disorganised escape in front of the enemy, cause fighting to cease without orders from the commander or causes the enemy to seize the fleet, the ship or the aircraft.
Germany
German law differentiates between two types of treason: "High treason" (Hochverrat) and "treason" (Landesverrat). High treason, as defined in Section 81 of the German criminal code is defined as an attempt against the existence or the constitutional order of the Federal Republic of Germany that is carried out either with the use of violence or the threat of violence. It carries a penalty of life imprisonment or a fixed term of at least ten years. In less serious cases, the penalty is 1–10 years in prison. German criminal law also criminalises high treason against a German state. Preparation of either types of the crime is criminal and carries a penalty of up to five years.
The other type of treason, Landesverrat is defined in Section 94. It is roughly equivalent to espionage; more precisely, it consists of betraying a secret either directly to a foreign power, or to anyone not allowed to know of it; in the latter case, treason is only committed if the aim of the crime was explicitly to damage the Federal Republic or to favor a foreign power. The crime carries a penalty of one to fifteen years in prison. However, in especially severe cases, life imprisonment or any term of at least five years may be sentenced.
As for many crimes with substantial threats of punishment active repentance is to be considered in mitigation under §83a StGB (Section 83a, Criminal Code).
Notable cases involving Landesverrat are the Weltbühne trial during the Weimar Republic and the Spiegel scandal of 1962. On 30. July 2015, Germany's Public Prosecutor General Harald Range initiated criminal investigation proceedings against the German blog netzpolitik.org.
Ireland
Article 39 of the Constitution of Ireland (adopted in 1937) states:
treason shall consist only in levying war against the State, or assisting any State or person or inciting or conspiring with any person to levy war against the State, or attempting by force of arms or other violent means to overthrow the organs of government established by the Constitution, or taking part or being concerned in or inciting or conspiring with any person to make or to take part or be concerned in any such attempt.
Following the enactment of the 1937 constitution, the Treason Act 1939 provided for imposition of the death penalty for treason. The Criminal Justice Act 1990 abolished the death penalty, setting the punishment for treason at life imprisonment, with parole in not less than forty years. No person has been charged under the Treason Act. Irish republican legitimatists who refuse to recognise the legitimacy of the Republic of Ireland have been charged with lesser crimes under the Offences against the State Acts 1939–1998.
India
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has described treason in Section 147, which states thatWhoever wages war against the Government of India, or attempts to wage such war, or abets the waging of such war, shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to fine.
Italy
The Italian law defines various types of crimes that could be generally described as treason (tradimento), although they are so many and so precisely defined that no one of them is simply called tradimento in the text of Codice Penale (Italian Criminal Code). The treason-type crimes are grouped as "crimes against the personhood of the State" (Crimini contro la personalità dello Stato) in the Second Book, First Title, of the Criminal Code.
Articles 241 to 274 detail crimes against the "international personhood of the State" such as "attempt against wholeness, independence and unity of the State" (art. 241), "hostilities against a foreign State bringing the Italian State in danger of war" (art. 244), "bribery of a citizen by a foreigner against the national interests" (art. 246), and "political or military espionage" (art. 257).
Articles 276 to 292 detail crimes against the "domestic personhood of the State", ranging from "attempt on the President of the Republic" (art. 271), "attempt with purposes of terrorism or of subversion" (art. 280), "attempt against the Constitution" (art. 283), "armed insurrection against the power of the State" (art. 284), and "civil war" (art. 286).
Further articles detail other crimes, especially those of conspiracy, such as "political conspiracy through association" (art. 305), or "armed association: creating and participating" (art. 306).
The penalties for treason-type crimes before the abolition of the monarchy in 1948 included death as maximum penalty and, for some crimes, as the only penalty possible. Nowadays the maximum penalty is life imprisonment (ergastolo).
Japan
From 1947 Japan does not technically have a law of treason. Instead it has an offence against taking part in foreign aggression against the Japanese state (gaikan zai; literally "crime of foreign mischief"). The law applies equally to Japanese and non-Japanese people, while treason in other countries usually applies only to their own citizens. Technically there are two laws, one for the crime of inviting foreign mischief (Japan Criminal Code section 2 clause 81) and the other for supporting foreign mischief once a foreign force has invaded Japan. "Mischief" can be anything from invasion to espionage. Before World War II, Imperial Japan had a crime similar to the English crime of high treason (Taigyaku zai), which applied to anyone who harmed the Japanese emperor or imperial family. This law was abolished by the American occupation force after World War II.
The application of "Crimes Related to Insurrection" to the Aum Shinrikyo cult of religious terrorists was proposed from lawyers of a defendant who was a high-ranked subordinate so that the cult leader solely would be deemed as responsible. The court rejected this argument.
New Zealand
New Zealand has treason laws that are stipulated under the Crimes Act 1961. Section 73 of the Crimes Act reads as follows:
Every one owing allegiance to the Sovereign in right of New Zealand commits treason who, within or outside New Zealand,–
(a) kills or wounds or does grievous bodily harm to the Sovereign, or imprisons or restrains her or him; or
(b) levies war against New Zealand; or
(c) assists an enemy at war with New Zealand, or any armed forces against which New Zealand forces are engaged in hostilities, whether or not a state of war exists between New Zealand and any other country; or
(d) incites or assists any person with force to invade New Zealand; or
(e) uses force for the purpose of overthrowing the Government of New Zealand; or
(f) conspires with any person to do anything mentioned in this section.
The penalty is mandatory life imprisonment, except for conspiracy and attempts, for which the maximum sentence is 14 years' imprisonment. Treason was the last capital crime in New Zealand law: the death penalty for the offence was not revoked until 1989, 28 years after it was abolished for murder.
Very few people have been prosecuted for the act of treason in New Zealand.
Republic of North Macedonia
Article 305 of the penal code, titled "High treason", states:
A person who, by using force or serious threat, tries to change the constitutional system of the Republic of Macedonia, or to bring down the highest state authorities, shall be punished with imprisonment of at least five years.
Norway
Article 85 of the Constitution of Norway states that "[a]ny person who obeys an order the purpose of which is to disturb the liberty and security of the Storting [Parliament] is thereby guilty of treason against the country."
Russia
Article 275 of the Criminal Code of Russia, as updated in April 2023, defines treason as "espionage, disclosure of state secrets, or any other assistance rendered to a foreign State, a foreign organization, or their representatives in hostile activities to the detriment of the external security of the Russian Federation, committed by a citizen of the Russian Federation." The penalty is imprisonment from 12 years to life. Subsequent sections provide for further offences against state security, such as armed rebellion and forcible seizure of power.
On 30 June 2022, Russian physicist Dmitry Kolker was arrested on suspicion of passing information to China.
On 17 April 2023, Russian opposition politician and anti-war activist Vladimir Kara-Murza was convicted on charges of treason and spreading disinformation about the Russian military, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Kara-Murza's conviction is the longest sentence for political activity since the fall of the Soviet Union, and the length of the sentence is comparable only to Stalin's purges in the 1930s.
The Russo-Ukrainian war caused treason law to expand their scope and severity; additionally, an increased number of defendents are prosecuted for treason against Russia, including Ukrainian residents of territories under Russian occupation.
In early 2024, Russian American ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina was arrested in Yekaterinburg and charged with treason for sending $51.80 to Razom, a New York City-based nonprofit organization that sends humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. She initially faced life in prison, but pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
South Korea
According to Article 87 of the Criminal Code of South Korea, "a person who creates a violence for the purpose of usurping the national territory or subverting the Constitution" can be found guilty of insurrection. The punishments for insurrection are as follows:
"Ring Leader": death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment without prison labor for life.
"A person who participates in a plot, or commands, or engages in other essential activities": death, imprisonment for life, imprisonment or imprisonment without prison labor, for not less than five years.
"A person who has committed acts of killing, wounding, destroying or plundering": death, imprisonment for life, imprisonment or imprisonment without prison labor, for not less than five years.
"A person who merely responds to the agitation and follows the lead of another or merely joins in the violence": imprisonment or imprisonment without prison labor for not more than five years.
Sweden
Sweden's treason laws are divided into three parts; Högförräderi (High treason), Landsförräderi (Treason) and Landssvek (Treachery).
High treason means crimes committed with the intent to put the Nation, or parts thereof, under foreign rule or influence. It is governed by Brottsbalken (Criminal Code) chapter 19 paragraph 1.
A person who, with intent that the country or a part of it will, by violent or otherwise illegal means or with foreign assistance, be subjugated by a foreign power or made dependent on such a power, or that, in this way, a part of the country will be detached, undertakes an action that involves danger of this intent being realised is guilty of high treason and is sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term of at least ten and at most eighteen years, or for life or, if the danger was minor, to imprisonment for at least four and at most ten years.
A person who, with intent that a measure or decision of the Head of State, the Government, the Riksdag or the supreme courts will be forced or impeded with foreign assistance, undertakes an action that involves danger of this is also guilty of high treason.
Treason is only applicable when the nation is at war and involves crimes committed with the intent of hindering, misguiding or betraying the defence of the Nation. It is governed by Brottsbalken chapter 22 paragraph 1.
A person who, when the country is at war:
1. impedes, misleads or betrays others who are engaged in the country's defence, or induces them to mutiny, disloyalty or dejection;
2. betrays, destroys or damages property of importance for the total defence;
3. obtains personnel, property or services for the enemy; or
4. commits another similar treacherous act,
Switzerland
There is no single crime of treason in Swiss law; instead, multiple criminal prohibitions apply. Article 265 of the Swiss Criminal Code prohibits "high treason" (Hochverrat/haute trahison) as follows:
Whoever commits an act with the objective of violently
– changing the constitution of the Confederation or of a canton,
– removing the constitutional authorities of the state from office or making them unable to exercise their authority,
– separating Swiss territory from the Confederation or territory from a canton,
shall be punished with imprisonment of no less than a year.
A separate crime is defined in article 267 as "diplomatic treason" (Diplomatischer Landesverrat/Trahison diplomatique):
1. Whoever makes known or accessible a secret, the preservation of which is required in the interest of the Confederation, to a foreign state or its agents, (...) shall be punished with imprisonment of no less than a year.
2. Whoever makes known or accessible a secret, the preservation of which is required in the interest of the Confederation, to the public, shall be punished with imprisonment of up to five years or a monetary penalty.
In 1950, in the context of the Cold War, the following prohibition of "foreign enterprises against the security of Switzerland" was introduced as article 266bis:
1 Whoever, with the purpose of inciting or supporting foreign enterprises aimed against the security of Switzerland, enters into contact with a foreign state or with foreign parties or other foreign organizations or their agents, or makes or disseminates untrue or tendentious claims (unwahre oder entstellende Behauptungen / informations inexactes ou tendancieuses), shall be punished with imprisonment of up to five years or a monetary penalty.
Turkey
Treason per se is not defined in the Turkish Penal Code. However, the law defines crimes which are traditionally included in the scope of treason, such as cooperating with the enemy during wartime. Treason is punishable by imprisonment up to life.
Ukraine
Article 111, paragraph 1, of the Ukrainian Criminal Code (adopted in 2001) states:
High treason, that is an act willfully committed by a citizen of Ukraine in the detriment of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability, defense capability, and state, economic or information security of Ukraine: joining the enemy at the time of martial law or armed conflict, espionage, assistance in subversive activities against Ukraine provided to a foreign state, a foreign organization or their representatives,-
shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of ten to fifteen years.
Articles 109 to 114 set out other offences against the state, such as sabotage.
United Kingdom
The British law of treason is entirely statutory and has been so since the Treason Act 1351 (25 Edw. 3 St. 5 c. 2). The Act is written in Norman French, but is more commonly cited in its English translation.
The Treason Act 1351 has since been amended several times, and currently provides for four categories of treasonable offences, namely:
"when a man doth compass or imagine the death of our lord the King, or of our lady his Queen or of their eldest son and heir" (following the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 this is read to mean the eldest child and heir);
"if a man do violate the King's companion, or the King's eldest daughter unmarried, or the wife of the King's eldest son and heir" (following the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 this is read to mean the eldest son if the heir);
"if a man do levy war against our lord the King in his realm, or be adherent to the King's enemies in his realm, giving to them aid and comfort in the realm, or elsewhere"; and
"if a man slea [slay] the chancellor, treasurer, or the King's justices of the one bench or the other, justices in eyre, or justices of assise, and all other justices assigned to hear and determine, being in their places, doing their offices".
Another Act, the Treason Act 1702 (1 Anne stat. 2 c. 21), provides for a fifth category of treason, namely:
"if any person or persons ... shall endeavour to deprive or hinder any person who shall be the next in succession to the crown ... from succeeding after the decease of her Majesty (whom God long preserve) to the imperial crown of this realm and the dominions and territories thereunto belonging".
By virtue of the Treason Act 1708, the law of treason in Scotland is the same as the law in England, save that in Scotland the slaying of the Lords of Session and Lords of Justiciary and counterfeiting the Great Seal of Scotland remain treason under sections 11 and 12 of the Treason Act 1708 respectively. Treason is a reserved matter about which the Scottish Parliament is prohibited from legislating. Two acts of the former Parliament of Ireland passed in 1537 and 1542 create further treasons which apply in Northern Ireland.
United States
The offense of treason exists at both federal and state levels. The federal crime is defined in the Constitution (and is the only crime defined by it) as either levying war against the United States or adhering to its enemies, and carries a sentence of death or imprisonment and fine.
In the 1790s, opposition political parties were new and not fully accepted. Government leaders often considered their opponents to be traitors. Historian Ron Chernow reports that Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and President George Washington "regarded much of the criticism fired at their administration as disloyal, even treasonous, in nature." When the undeclared Quasi-War broke out with France in 1797–98, "Hamilton increasingly mistook dissent for treason and engaged in hyperbole." Furthermore, the Jeffersonian opposition party behaved the same way. After 1801, with a peaceful transition in the political party in power, the rhetoric of "treason" against political opponents diminished.
In the United States, Benedict Arnold's name is considered synonymous with treason due to his collaboration with the British during the American Revolutionary War.
"Traitor" was in some cases treated as an honorable label when there had been considerable dissent from policies of the central government. "All the Founding Fathers had once been branded traitors by an unjust establishment power structure. So too, before them, had the Plymouth and Salem Puritans to whom so many...traced their roots." Abolitionists, who denied the authority of the federal government (see Secession in the United States), proudly called each other traitors. This includes Theodore Parker, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Samuel Gridley Howe, "and those like them." William Lloyd Garrison "proudly called himself a traitor for decades."
To avoid the abuses of the English law, the scope of treason was specifically restricted in the United States Constitution. Article III, section 3 reads as follows:
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
Vietnam
The Constitution of Vietnam proclaims that treason is the most serious crime. It is further regulated in the country's 2015 Criminal Code with the 78th article:
Any Vietnamese citizen acting in collusion with a foreign country with the intention of causing harm to the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland, the national defense forces, the socialist regime or the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam shall be sentenced to between twelve and twenty years of imprisonment, life imprisonment or capital punishment.
In the event of many extenuating circumstances, the offenders shall be subject to between seven and fifteen years of imprisonment.
Also, according to the Law on Amnesty amended in November 2018, it is impossible for those convicted for treason to be granted amnesty.
Muslim-majority countries
Early in Islamic history, the only form of treason was seen as the attempt to overthrow a just government or waging war against the State. According to Islamic tradition, the prescribed punishment ranged from imprisonment to the severing of limbs and the death penalty depending on the severity of the crime. However, even in cases of treason the repentance of a person would have to be taken into account.
Currently, the consensus among major Islamic schools is that apostasy (leaving Islam) is considered treason and that the penalty is death; this is supported not in the Quran but in hadith. This confusion between apostasy and treason almost certainly had its roots in the Ridda Wars, in which an army of rebel traitors led by the self-proclaimed prophet Musaylima attempted to destroy the caliphate of Abu Bakr.
In Algeria, treason is defined as the following:
attempts to change the regime or actions aimed at incitement
destruction of territory, sabotage to public and economic utilities
participation in armed bands or in insurrectionary movements
In Bahrain, plotting to topple the regime, collaborating with a foreign hostile country and threatening the life of the Emir are defined as treason and punishable by death. The State Security Law of 1974 was used to crush dissent that could be seen as treasonous, which was criticised for permitting severe human rights violations in accordance with Article One:
If there is serious evidence that a person has perpetrated acts, delivered statements, exercised activities, or has been involved in contacts inside or outside the country, which are of a nature considered to be in violation of the internal or external security of the country, the religious and national interests of the State, its social or economic system; or considered to be an act of sedition that affects or can possibly affect the existing relations between the people and Government, between the various institutions of the State, between the classes of the people, or between those who work in corporations propagating subversive propaganda or disseminating atheistic principles; the Minister of Interior may order the arrest of that person, committing him to one of Bahrain's prisons, searching him, his residence and the place of his work, and may take any measure which he deems necessary for gathering evidence and completing investigations.
Related offences
There are a number of other crimes against the state short of treason:
Apostasy in Islam, considered treason in Islamic belief
Compounding treason, dropping a prosecution for treason in exchange for money or money's worth
Defection, or leaving the country, regarded in some communist countries (especially during the Cold War) as disloyalty to the state
Espionage or spying
Lèse-majesté, insulting a head of state and a crime in some countries
Misprision of treason, a crime consisting of the concealment of treason
Sedition, inciting civil unrest or insurrection, or undermining the government
Treachery, attacking a state regardless of allegiance
Treason felony, a British offence tantamount to treason