Senate votes jail time for those who disrespect Romania's national symbols

The Senate tacitly adopted the law proposal that amends Romania's Criminal Code by introducing jail time for those who disrespect the country's national symbols. According to the project, the public act of expressing contempt for Romania’s symbols would be punished with prison sentences of one to three years, reports local Mediafax. Moreover, those who publicly dishonor the symbols and emblems used by the Romanian authorities risk prison sentences of up to two years. The project introduces a new article into the law, which defines “contempt” as being the “lack of consideration or esteem, the feeling through which a thing is seen as unworthy of attention, and defamation.” Most of the MPs who have proposed these new rules are from the Social Democratic Party (PSD). The Chamber of Deputies will have the final say on this law. New law that sanctions social defamation raises wave of criticism in Romania Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com