The Verkhovna Rada approved a bill that holds people responsible for defamation, including the over the Internet.
The provision is contained in Law 3879 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine” On the Judicial System and Status of Judges” and procedural laws on additional measures of protecting the security of citizens.”
According to this law, the Criminal Code of Ukraine was amended with Article 151 “Defamation”.
According to the authors (Party of Regions deputies Vadym Kolesnichenko and Volodymyr Oleynik), defamation is “intentional dissemination of misleading information, discrediting the honor and dignity of another person.”
The punishment is a “fine of fifty minimum incomes, or community service for up to two hundred hours, or corrective labor for up to one year.”
Also, “defamation in an essay publicly demonstrated in the media or on the Internet, as well as committed by a person previously convicted of defamation,” was marked as a separate point.
Such a violation leads to fine “from fifty to three hundred tax-free minimum incomes, or community service for one hundred and fifty to two hundred forty hours, or corrective labor for up to one year.”
At the same time, defamation, combined with charges of committing a grave or especially grave crime, can now be punished by correctional work from one to two years, or imprisonment for up to two years.
The original article can be found on the Ukrainska Pravda website at:
