On April 19, a meeting of the Committee on State and Legal Policy was held in the People's Assembly - Parliament of the Republic of Abkhazia where the Commissioner Anas Kishmaria and the staff members took part.
   Within the meeting the Draft Law of the Republic of Abkhazia “On Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of the Republic of Abkhazia” was considered which proposed to make changes to the disposition of articles on slander and insult of government officials and also proposed to tighten criminal liability measures for such crimes as: slander, insult, contempt of court, insult to government officials.
In the opinion of the staff and the Commissioner the proposal to amend the provisions of the articles on libel and insult of a government official, as well as the proposal to tighten criminal penalties for the crimes specified in the Draft Law are unfounded, disproportionate and unfair changes to the criminal law that can lead to a restriction of freedom of speech and a violation of the guarantee to judicial protection established by Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of the Republic of Abkhazia. Moreover, the changes proposed by the Draft Law do not seem to be based on a systematic analysis of criminal law and law enforcement practice, the principles of criminal law and the desire to ensure the supremacy of human rights and freedom.
Based on the results of consideration of the Draft Law, the deputies decided not to recommend it for consideration at the Parliamentary session.


The opinion can be found at the link:
https://ombudsmanra.org/upload/iblock/1f2/1f25d7cbad9957fde5979b4602c1019c.pdf