Cabinet of Ministers proposes to punish for religious discrimination

The UOC rally near the Verkhovna Rada. Photo: monitor-ua.com

The head of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Denis Shmyhal submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a bill proposing punishment for discrimination on religious grounds, reports Strana.ua.

The document proposes to define the term "intolerance" as a negative or prejudiced attitude towards a category of persons that differ on the following grounds: race, colour of the skin, political or religious beliefs, age, gender, disability, language, place of residence, gender identity, sexual orientation, family and property status, citizenship, ethnic and social origin.

The bill states that they will punish for direct or indirect restriction of the rights of minorities, public calls for violence motivated by intolerance, as well as other deliberate actions aimed at inciting hostility and hatred, for the same actions committed by an official, as well as for the same actions committed by an organized group of persons or entailing grave consequences.

The maximum fine is from five hundred to one thousand non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens. Also, a person who violates this law can receive from five to eight years in prison.

As reported, the police opened criminal proceedings on the fact of the call of the councilor of Ivano-Frankivsk mayor Nazariy Kishak to "purge the monasteries" of the UOC and "expel the priests".

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