Section 6: espionage. This was interpreted so broadly that it included not only proven acts of transmitting information to enemies of the state, but also included "suspicion of espionage," "unproven espionage," and "contacts leading to suspicion of espionage." Any person who knew or had recently talked to a person accused of espionage could be arrested under the provisions of this sub-section.
Section 7: subversion of industry, transportation, trade, monetary exchange or the credit system. Failure to meet agricultural quotas, allowing machines to break down, and allowing weeds to grow too high were also crimes punished under this section.
Section 8: terrorist acts. This included hitting a party member or a policeman and was also broadened by "threat of" or "expression of intent."
Section 9: sabotage — that is, the destruction of state property.
Section 10: This was the most often and most broadly used section of Article 58. It covers "propaganda or agitation containing an appeal to overthrow, undermine, or weaken the Soviet regime, or to commit individual counterrevolutionary crimes, and also the distribution, the preparation, or the conservation of literature of this nature." Such propaganda and agitation included not only the printing and dissemination of subversive material, but also conversations between friends, letters, and private diaries. Solzhenitsyn's letter to his friend about the "Whiskered One" was such "subversion."
Section 11: This section covered and aggravated any of the previous activities when they were found to have been committed not by individuals, but by "organizations." The minimum number for an organization was two people, as evidenced by the exchange of letters between Solzhenitsyn and his friend. Both were sentenced under Section 11.
