In Krasnodar Territory, law on protection of children's morals adopted in first reading

Today, in the Krasnodar Territory, MPs adopted in the first reading the law draft "On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Krasnodar Territory in terms of strengthening protection of health and spiritual and moral development of children". Alexander Tkachov, Governor of the Krasnodar Territory, supported the document.

In particular, the draft law proposes to increase the administrative responsibility for "actions on focused and uncontrolled public dissemination of the information that can harm health, moral and spiritual development of minors, including the information, contributing to formation of distorted notions of conformity to social norms of non-traditional relationships (homosexuality)".

The administrative fine for the above actions is proposed to be increased for individuals by up to 5000 roubles, for officials by up to 50,000 roubles, and for legal entities by up to 500,000 roubles.

"We have been waiting for a long time that the federal law to toughen punishment for the promotion of paedophilia is about to be adopted; however, there is no progress. I am aware of a serious opposition to the adoption of that law at the federal level. Meanwhile, it is motivated by the fact that the adoption of such a law would oppose liberal values. I can say in such a manner we don't care about the values that maimed bodies and souls of our children!" Alexander Tkachov has stated.

The Governor of the Krasnodar Territory mentioned the statistics, in accordance to which, since the beginning of the year, 135 crimes were committed against sexual inviolability of children. The number of cases of sexual abuse against children and direct violence has doubled.

The Legislative Assembly unanimously supported the legislative initiative on the protection of morals of children and adolescents. MPs will make their amendments to the document, and it will be reconsidered in the second reading.

However, leaders of the Russian interregional social movement, engaged in the issues of the protection of rights and social adaptation of sexual and gender minorities (LGBT) show their critical attitude to the new law.

"The authorities of the Krasnodar Territory and also the authorities of other regions of Russia chose a very dangerous course to encourage xenophobic and openly fascist tendencies. All that facts represent a wake-up call for the entire Russian society. We go back to the days of not so glorious 30s, when people are being persecuted not for their orientation, but for their attitudes and beliefs," Igor Kochetkov, Chairman of the Russian LGBT Network, commented on the draft law.

Igor Kochetkov believes that the government and MPs ignore "opinions of lawyers, psychologists, and sexologists and write completely illiterate laws." According to the activist of the LGBT Network, all that are is connected with the fact that, being not able to solve social problems of the society, the authorities "search for guilty persons and set one part of the society against another one, following the principle of 'divide and rule'."

The "Caucasian Knot" has also reported that on March 31, in the course of the rally "For Faith, Kuban and Fatherland", held in Chistyakov Grove of Krasnodar, Archpriest Alexander Ignatov, Rector of the Krasnodar Church of the Nativity of Christ, supported the proposal to support the authorities of Saint Petersburg, which adopted a ban on the promotion of homosexuality. In the course of the rally, he also tried to initiate an appeal to the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnodar Territory on "prohibition of sodomy in the blessed land of Kuban".