http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/126361.html

[PRAGUE, 18 October 2007] - Czech President Vaclav Klaus has signed a bill that makes possession of child pornography a felony punishable by up to two years in prison, the president's spokesman Petr Hajek said in a statement.

The lower house first approved the bill last June outlawing possession of child pornography. The bill was struck down by the upper house in August. The lower house then overruled the Senate vote in September.

While producing and selling child pornography is a crime in the Czech Republic, possessing such images was not.

That became evident earlier this year after Austrian authorities caught a ring that had provided paedophiles worldwide with child porn online.

The ring's clients in the Czech Republic could not be prosecuted since possession of child pornography was not illegal.

Further information

• Bill On Child Porn Faces Resistance (3 September 2007)
• USA: Court says just viewing child porn is not a crime (3 July 2007)
• CRIN's thematic page on sexual exploitation
  

Previous Members news items

• 16/10/2007: MONTENEGRO: Children demand right to education without discrimination
• 15/10/2007: ZIMBABWE: Kwashiorkor comes to the capital
• 11/10/2007: CHILD LABOUR: Second issue of UCW newsletter
• 08/10/2007: DRC: Helping former soldiers plant seeds for the future in DRC
• 08/10/2007: PAKISTAN: The Suffering of Children Continues

Contact Information:

www.earthtimes.org

Last updated 18/10/2007 07:04:41

Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.