The government on Thursday labelled as unnecessary the opposition-crafted motion that envisages stiffer penalties for the incitement of hatred and intolerance as well as a prison sentence for Holocaust denial.
The amendments to the penalty code were put forward by a group of MPs headed by a member of the opposition party Zares. They propose a prison sentence of up to two years for the incitement of hatred or intolerance.
Such offences carry up to one year in the currently valid criminal code, while maltreatment and violence carry up to two years. This is why the Ministry of Justice believes the current code provides for what the MPs set out to protect. In today's press release the ministry also notes that the proposed sentence of up to two years for the denial of the Holocaust, genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity is unsuitable because of its inappropriate reference to provisions of international law.
As the ministry plans to overhaul the criminal code, it referred the deputy initiative to the taskforce that is crafting a new bill.
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