A punishment of 15-day arrest may be introduced for publication of photos and videos of law enforcement officers with the aim of discrediting them

At the next meeting of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis, the bill “On amendments and additions to the Criminal, the Criminal Procedural and the Administrative Responsibility Codes in connection with improving the road safety system” was considered and adopted.

According to the bill developed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, taking photos and videos of law enforcement officers and distributing them on social networks may entail administrative liability.

Deputy of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis Doniyor Ganiyev opposed this bill and said that it contradicts the openness policy of the head of state.

“A new article 195 is being introduced into the Administrative Responsibility Code. From now on, taking photos and videos of law enforcement officers with the aim of discrediting them is punishable by up to 15 days in prison.

In addition, this is a direct violation of laws on the openness of internal affairs bodies. There is also freedom of information in our Constitution. These are the things that should be taken into account,” deputy Doniyor Ganiyev said.

The bill has been sent to the Senate for consideration.

It should be recalled that a similar bill, according to which it was planned to prohibit citizens from posting photos and videos of traffic police officers on the Internet without their permission, was submitted for discussion in March 2022. However, it was not passed then.