Denial of the Holodomor Will Be Equated to a Criminal Offense – Initiative in the Rada
The Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy considered draft law 15192, which proposes to strengthen responsibility for public denial of the Holodomor of 1932–1933 as a genocide of the Ukrainian people and desecration of the memory of millions of its victims.
The document provides for amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine and establishes criminal liability for public denial of the Holodomor as genocide, as well as for justification of crimes of the totalitarian USSR regime. It also proposes to introduce penalties for the production and distribution of materials containing denial or justification of this tragedy.
As one of the initiators of the draft law noted, the Holodomor has already been recognized by Ukraine as genocide, but current legislation, in his opinion, does not contain sufficient mechanisms to respond to cases of its public denial.
During the discussion, the Committee Chairman emphasized the need to strengthen the protection of historical memory and counter information attacks. According to him, responsibility for public denial of the Holodomor must be clearly defined in the legislative field.
"We talk a lot about information warfare, but we do not take either preventive measures against Russian propaganda or sufficient response measures to specific actions that disorient our society," the Committee Chairman stressed.
He also emphasized that adopting the relevant changes could provide additional tools for law enforcement agencies, including the National Police, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the Prosecutor's Office, to counter such offenses.
Following the review, the Committee recommended that the Verkhovna Rada adopt the draft law in the first reading as a basis and refer it for further development to the specialized committee on law enforcement activities.
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