MINISTER BRIEFS SABOR ABOUT PROPOSED CHANGES TO PENAL CODE

ZAGREB, Nov 28 (Hina) - Justice Minister Ingrid Anticevic Marinovic presented draft amendments and supplements to the Penal Code in parliament on Thursday. #L# The changes stipulate the extension of statute of limitations, the introduction of life-long imprisonment for 20 gravest crimes, including war crimes, murder and international terrorism, and the expansion of the notion of crime organisations. The government proposes that exposing the President of the Republic to ridicule be treated as a criminal act whose perpetrator might receive sentences from three months to three years in prison. The minister justified the introduction of this criminal act with the fact that offending foreign officials was punishable, and it was therefore illogical not to treat the offending of the Croatian President in the same way. The same sentence is envisaged for the glorification of former Fascist states or organisations, defined as a criminal act for the first time. The possession of small amounts of drugs will be treated as misdemeanour and not as a crime as it has been the case so far. Provisions for the punishment of the violation of workers' rights, such as the failure to pay salaries on time, are more clearly defined. There would be more severe sentences for the illegal use of personal data, human trafficking, robberies, cyber crime and fraud. The abuse of confidence is also treated as a criminal act, and this refers to persons in the economy such as CEOs, directors and members of management boards which manage other people's assets. The perpetrators of such criminal acts can be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. The abuse of bankruptcy procedure might be sanctioned with up to 10 years in prison. Tougher sanctions are envisaged for tax evasion as well. The protection of witnesses and other participants in criminal proceedings is to be bolstered. A debate by parliamentary benches on the issue is under way. (hina) ms sb