Brussels, 27/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - Over the next two years, the European Union member states are to harmonise and increase penalties for paedophilia and child pornography on the internet under a draft directive approved on Thursday 27 October by the European Parliament.
Adopting a report by Roberta Angelilli (EPP, Italy) on the draft directive on the exploitation and sexual abuse of chidren and child pornography by 541 to 2 and 31 abstentions, the EP endorsed legislation to lengthen the minimum prison sentences for child pornography and paedophilia, including people publishing child porn on line. Forcing children into prostitution or sexual acts will carry a prison sentence of at least ten years. People producing child pornography will have a prison sentence of at least three years and people downloading child pornography at least one year, but countries will be able to have longer prison sentences for all these crimes.
The directive makes the online soliciting of children a crime and it will be possible to take sex tourists (people who travel to countries like Thailand to abuse children) to court back home. National authorities will be forced to delete child porn images from any servers in their country as soon as possible so they cannot be sent to other people, and if a server where child pornography is stored is abroad, then the authorities will have to ask public bodies in the country in question to delete them. If this proves impossible for any reason, then countries can block the pornography in their own country. The directive now needs formal adoption by the Council of Ministers, expected later this year. Once introduced, the member states will have two years to transpose it into their legal system. (LC/transl.fl)