Jpost
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a new bill criminalizing antisemitism and making it punishable by up to eight years in prison.
The new law – signed on Holocaust Remembrance Day – amends Article 161 of the Criminal Code and now features the words ‘manifestations of antisemitism,’ according to the draft law seen by The Jerusalem Post.
Part one of the article relates to deliberate actions aimed at ‘manifestations of antisemitism’. One found guilty of ‘incitement of antisemitism’ will now be punishable by a fine of two hundred to five hundred tax-free minimum incomes of citizens, restriction of liberty for up to 5 years, or imprisonment for up to 3 years.
In Ukrainian law, the tax-free minimum income is a fixed legal unit called the ‘non-taxable minimum income of citizens.’ It’s a standardized amount used to calculate fines, typically set at 17 Ukrainian hryvnias (UAH) per unit.
The second part of the article details punishments for violence, deception, and threats. Here, someone may receive a fine of 500 to 1,000 tax-free minimum incomes for citizens, or imprisonment of 2 to 5 years.
If any of the antisemitic actions set out in parts one and two were committed by an organized group or caused serious consequences, they are punishable by imprisonment of 5 to 8 years.
Ukraine antisemitism law originally submitted in 2021
The draft law was submitted in 2021 following the signing of a separate law called ‘Preventing and Combating Antisemitism in Ukraine.’ The idea was that the two should work in harmony.
The ‘Preventing and Combating Antisemitism in Ukraine’ legislation outlined ‘forms of antisemitism’ and established legal responsibility, but did not introduce criminal punishments. Some of the stated manifestations include denial of the right to self-identification of persons of Jewish origin, and calls for, or justification for doing harm to them due to ‘radical ideological beliefs’ or ‘extremist religious views’.
‘This is an important and timely step,’ Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Azman said Tuesday. ‘Ukraine is sending a clear message: hatred, discrimination, and incitement to violence against the Children of Israel, God’s chosen people, have no place in Ukrainian society and never will.’
The United Jewish Community of Ukraine expressed its gratitude to the Jewish author of the draft laws, Maksym Buzhansky, for his ‘systematic work on the adoption of the legislative initiatives.’