LAW No 2019/020 _OF2 4 DEC 2019
TO AMEND AND SUPPLEMENT SOME PROVISIONS OF LAW No.2016/7 OF 12 JULY 2016 RELATING TO THE PENAL CODE
SECTION 1: Law No. 2016/7 of 12 July 2016 relating to the Penal Code is hereby amended and supplemented as follows:
"Section 241: (new) Contempt of race or religion
(1) Whoever commits a contempt, within the meaning of Section 152 of this Code, of the race or religion of one or many citizens or residents shall be punished with imprisonment for from 6 (six) months and with fine of from 5 000 (five thousand) francs to 500 000 (five hundred thousand) Francs. (2) Where the offence is committed by means of the press or wireless, radio, television or social media or any other means likely to reach the public, the maximum of the fine provided for in subsection 1 above may extend to 20 000 000 (twenty million) Francs. (3) Where the offence is committed with intent to arouse hatred or contempt between citizens, or residents, the penalties provided by the foregoing subsections shall be doubled.
SECTION 241-1: (new) contempt of Tribe or ethnic group
(1) Whoever, by any means, makes hate speech against people or incites them to violence due to their tribal or ethnic origin shall be punished with imprisonment of from 1 (one) to 2 (two) years and with fine of 300 000 (three hundred thousand) francs to 3 000 000 (three million) francs. (2) Where the benefit of mitigating circumstances is given, the punishment provided for in Subsection 1 above shall not be less than 3 (three) months imprisonment and the fine shall not be less than 200 000 (two hundred thousand) francs.
Execution shall not be suspended except in case of diminished responsibility of infancy.
(3) Where the author of the hate speech is a Public Servant as per the provisions of Section 131 of this Code, a leader of a political party, of the media, of a Non-Governmental Organisation or a religious institution, the punishment provided for in subsection 1 above shall be doubled and the benefit of mitigating circumstances shall not be given. PPRESIDENCE DE LAREPUBLIQU CECRETADIATGENEDAI
Section 2: This law shall be registered, published according to the procedure of urgency, and inserted in the Official Gazette in English and French./-
