KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) — Ukrainian Jews welcomed a bill that would apply more stringent punishments to hate crimes.
The Ukrainian parliament adopted the bill on Wednesday. It increases the punishments for crimes committed on the basis of racial, ethnic or religious intolerance.
“We welcome such important steps of Ukrainian institutions to counteract conflicts based on ethnic and religious grounds and believe that those bill and decisions will be implemented,” lawmaker Aleksandr Feldman, a prominent Jewish leader and President of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, told JTA.
