SocDem leader Dragnea defends his "defamation" law, rejects improper appellation

Social Democrat Party Chairman Liviu Dragnea defends a bill on human dignity and tolerance, widely challenged recently across the press and social media as 'defamation law'; according to him, it was dubbed so to make it look negative. 

"It's not the 'defamation law,' I insist because it's important. This appellation has been repeatedly promoted, which is not the actual name of the [draft] law, to try suggesting it's a negative law. No; it's a profoundly positive law, with a positive approach. All the critics, probably made in good faith by 95 percent of those who reacted to it, were generated by some provisions in the original form of the bill; they were removed by amendments I proposed, because the spirit and the goal of this law is entirely different. Attacking the politicians is permitted," Dragnea told Romania TV on Wednesday night. 

He admitted a hesitation on the amendments in the Legal Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, namely failing to upload its report on the Parliaments website a day earlier, with the amendments, and to send it to the deputies. "There's no longer any provision that might even question the freedom of speech, not on social networks, not in the media, either. (...) I take the responsibility for the Chamber of Deputies who did not posted these modifications on its website; whoever reads them carefully will note that the concerns are no longer justified by the bill," he stressed. 

The novelty of the bill, according to Dragnea, is the promotion of human spirit and dignity through tolerance in education. 

The Legal Committee issued a positive advice on the bill on Tuesday, with an amendment on fines ranging from 1,000 to 30,000 lei (1 leu = approximately 0.22 euros) for discriminations against individuals and from 2,000 to 100,000 lei for discriminations against social groups. 

The Senate already passed the bill; the Chamber of Deputies has the final say on it.AGERPRES