The Synod of the Orthodox Church calls upon Parliament not to adopt in the second reading the amendments to Article 90 of the Code of Administrative Offenses that annul the penalties for actions taken to promote other relations than the family and household ones, IPN reports.

Elena Batca, jurist of the Moldovan Metropolitan Church, told a news conference that before amended, Article 90 provided penalties for the promotion of prostitution, pedophilia, pornography and the homosexual relations. The fines varied between 2,000 to 8,000 lei. The penalties included even imprisonment. This article was a kind of guarantor in the appropriate implementation of the Law on Equality of Chances.

The jurist described the amendment of the law as wrongdoing. The amendments were drafted in a record time and weren’t discussed with civil society. The bill was registered with Parliament on October 4. The legal commission approved it on October 8 and the legislative body passed it in the first reading on October 10.

The Church officials said the bill may be adopted in the final reading at the next sitting of Parliament. They called on the MPs to review their position on these amendments.

The bill with amendments was drafted by the Ministry of Justice.