Putin Signed Bill to Ban All Forms of Cruelty to Animals

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On Thursday, according to documents uploaded to the official online database of Russian legislative information, President V V Putin signed a decree on responsible treatment of animals outlawing all forms of cruelty to animals and established rules of pet ownership. The law was introduced in 2010 to the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the RF Gosduma, and took eight years for passage. The law contains basic principles of pet ownership, based on responsible, ethical, and humane treatment of animals. It also streamlines the rights and responsibilities of federal, regional, and municipal authorities on the issue of pet ownership. The law establishes rules of ownership and use of animals, and of their protection against cruel treatment. Besides, it outlaws the propaganda of cruel treatment of animals and sets forth requirements for ownership of pets and service animals, as well as for their use in cultural and entertaining events.

Bans and Restrictions

The new law prohibits free and uncontrolled movement of animals in areas with road traffic, in lifts, and in other common areas of residential buildings, as well as in yards, recreational areas, playgrounds, and sporting grounds. From now on, owners must clean the waste left by their pet in those areas. Now, municipal authorities can prohibit animal walks in certain zones. The document also stipulates that dogs of potentially dangerous breeds can take walks only with a muzzle and on a leash. The only exception is when a dog walks on restricted territory belonging to its owner and marked with a warning sign. The Russian government will compile a list of those dangerous breeds. The law also defines the legal status of animal shelters and sets rules for establishing, keeping, and using them. From now on, anyone capturing stray animals must record it with a camera and make public all information about them. The document also outlaws petting zoos and animal fights, as well as keeping animals in bars and restaurants.

28 December 2018

TASS

http://tass.com/society/1038276

“Alternative Sexual Identity”: Austria Recognises “Third Gender”

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Austria’s Constitutional Court handed down a verdict that allows people to register themselves in official documents as something other than male or female if they wish. The Austrian court, in response to a request from an intersexual activist known as Alex Jürgen, called upon the European Convention on Human Rights to introduce the option of “other” or “inter” on civil register forms that ask for a person’s gender. Jürgen, whose birth name remains secret, said:

For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m recognised as what I am, how I was born.

The court emphasised in its ruling that Article 8 of the European Human Rights Convention certifies the right to “an individual sexual identity” and defends “in particular, people with an alternative sexual identity”. The court decision won’t amend existing law since it doesn’t explicitly require documentation of male or female gender.

Last November, Germany became the first European country to call for official recognition of a “third sex”, a decision supported in May by the Netherlands. The third gender already received legal recognition in several countries, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Canada, India, Pakistan, and Nepal. According to UN experts, from 0.05 to 1.7 percent of global births are intersex.

30 June 2018

Sputnik International

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201806301065909946-austria-court-third-gender/

Editor:

I find this more than a little disquieting. It appears to hinge upon personal choice, not objective medical criteria. It’s one thing if an intersex person or a transsexual under medical supervision asks for a change in gender on documentation, but it’s quite another if we open it to untrammelled personal whim. I know that this’ll open me up to attacks from both sides of the aisle. Those on the left will excoriate me for not being “sensitive” enough. Those on the right will vilify me for even offering a pathway to change one’s documents (they wouldn’t even accept medical vetting, I’ve found). I’d say to you to ignore the activists on both sides and keep it grounded in medical reality. That’s how it stands in most places today (including my home state of New York), and I think that it’s best kept that way. That is, there should be a limited and controlled way to amend one’s personal documents. Otherwise, it becomes anarchy and chaos. Keep it grounded and you won’t go wrong.

BMD

Bill Recommending Life Sentences for Paedophiles Submitted to Gosduma

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On Wednesday, Gosduma Deputy Speaker Irina Yarovaya, who heads a group in the Gosduma working on a draft law proposing life imprisonment for convicted paedophiles, said:

The bill specifies that sexual offences against children under 14 that result in severe damage to their health will be punishable by life imprisonment. Such crimes get reported later in time because people prefer to keep them secret, while children facing continuous harm are psychologically distraught. This is the reason why the bill extends the statute of limitations for crimes against minors until they come of age. The bill stipulates that when those living together with kids and teenagers or those responsible for their upbringing, education, and protection of their rights commit such crimes, it’s an additional aggravating factor. The bill also considers spreading pornography amongst children over the internet an aggravating factor and stipulates liability for coercing minors into sexual acts via the internet. We assume that a psychologist may be present as investigators question children.

Russian government backs bill to crack down on paedophiles

14 February 2018

TASS

http://tass.com/society/990001

Russian Priest Sentenced to 14 years in Prison on Child Molestation Charges

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Editor:

Russia is SERIOUS about putting crank priests in the slam. Another priest got hard time for sticking his hand in the till. This is what bozo priests in the USA and Canada deserve (but rarely get).

BMD

A TASS correspondent reported that Priozersky City Court in Leningrad Oblast sentenced Priest Gleb Grozovsky to 14 years in a high-security penal colony for molesting children in camps organised by the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia and Greece. Announcing the court’s decision, Judge Lyudmila Yashgina said:

We find Gleb Grozovsky guilty and sentence him to 14 years in prison.

Grozovsky said:

I understand the sentence and I’ll file an appeal. This isn’t the end; you’ll see the situation change.

The prosecutor’s office asked the court to sentence the priest to 15 years in a high-security penal colony and deprive him of the right to engage in activities related to the upbringing of children. Grozovsky plead “not guilty” and rejected all charges as absurd.

According to investigators, in 2011, Grozovsky, who was a priest at the Ascension Cathedral in Tsarskoye Selo near St Petersburg, sexually abused an underage girl. In the summer of 2013, he conducted similar actions towards two girls at an Orthodox youth camp in Greece. After an investigation began, the priest fled abroad and authorities put him on the international wanted list. In 2016, Grozovsky was brought to St Petersburg from Israel. Earlier, sources in the Russian Orthodox Church said that the Church would decide on whether to defrock Grozovsky after the court announced its verdict.

17 January 2018

TASS

http://tass.com/society/985407