Azerbaijan criminalizes defamation of president on Internet

The Azerbaijani Parliament has adopted the draft proposal criminalizing defamation of the country’s president on the Internet.
 
Earlier, a draft proposal on making amendments to Article 323-1 (illegal actions or humiliation of honor and dignity of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic in public statement, publicly shown product or mass media) of the Criminal Code was submitted to the country’s parliament.
 
According to the document, the words “or mass media” shall be replaced by the words “in mass media or in internet resources in case of public dissemination”.
 
For these actions, the applicable law envisages a fine of 500 to 1000 manats, or correctional labor up to two years, or imprisonment for a period of two years, APA reports.