Czech senate decides against criminalising possession of child porn

The Czech Senate has decided against making the possession of child pornography a criminal offence. Discussing an amendment to the law on pornography passed by the lower house, senators agreed that only people who produce or sell child porn or who make it available should be punished, but not those who just own it, as such a measure could be easily misused by third parties to get others into trouble.

One senator expressed concern that even an unsolicited email could result in a person being prosecuted under the proposed new child porn legislation. One of the authors of the amendment, Communist MP Milan Bicik has criticised the senators' reservations, saying that they were unfounded and that the legislation only targeted those who knowingly possessed pornographic images of children. The bill has now been sent back to the lower house of parliament for another reading.