Russian lawmakers back reducing punishment for domestic violence

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian MPs on Wednesday, January 25 backed a controversial bill reducing the punishment for some forms of domestic violence in a crucial second reading, despite protests from rights activists, AFP reports.

The amendments reduce the penalty for violence against family members -- including spouses and children -- as long as it is a first offence and does not cause serious injury, making it punishable by a fine of up to 30,000 rubles ($506, 470 euros).

Currently violence against a family member that does not cause serious physical injury is defined as battery, punishable by up to two years in jail.

Amnesty International last week appealed to Russia's parliament not to pass the bill, condemning it as a "sickening attempt to trivialise domestic violence."

The bill now only needs to get through a third technical reading expected Friday before it goes to the upper house and then to President Vladimir Putin for a final signature.

The bill's authors say the new measure removes a legal anomaly and will reduce domestic violence by giving first-time abusers a chance to reform.

Conservative backers of the bill have nicknamed this the "law on slaps," complaining domestic violence is punished too harshly.

"If you slap your naughty child, you risk up to two years in jail. If your neighbour does the same, it would end with a fine," one of the bill's authors, Senator Yelena Mizulina, wrote on her site on Wednesday.