1. A private individual who locks up or detains another person, depriving him of his liberty, shall be punished with a sentence of imprisonment from four to six years.
2. Should the offender release the person locked up or detained within the first three days of detention, without having achieved his intended objective, he shall have the lower degree punishment imposed.
3. A sentence of imprisonment from five to eight years shall be handed down if the victim is locked up or detained for more than fifteen days.
4. A private individual who, outside the cases allowed by the laws, arrests a person to immediately hand him over to the authorities, shall be punished with the penalty of a fine from three to six months.
Kidnapping a person when setting a condition for release shall be punished with a sentence of imprisonment from six to ten years. If the circumstance of Article 163.3 has concurred with the kidnap, the higher degree punishment shall be imposed, and the lower degree one if the conditions of Article 163.2 are fulfilled.
The penalties of the preceding Articles shall be imposed in the upper half, in the respective cases, if an unlawful detention or kidnapping has been carried out simulating being an authority or public officer, or if the victim is a minor, an incapacitated person, or a civil servant exercising his duties.
A convict for illegal detention or kidnapping who does not declare the whereabouts of the person detained shall be punished, as appropriate, with higher degree penalties than those stated in the preceding Articles of this Chapter, except if he has released the victim.
The authority or civil servant who, outside the cases allowed by Law, and without there being a reason due to a felony, were to commit any of the acts described in the preceding Articles, shall be punished with the penalties respectively foreseen therein, in the upper half, and also with absolute barring for a term of eight to twelve years.
Provocation, conspiracy and solicitation to commit the offences foreseen in this Chapter shall be punished with the penalty lower by one or two degrees to that set for the offence concerned.
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