KYIV, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelensky responded Tuesday to an OnlyFans model’s petition to decriminalize pornography in Ukraine, stating that he would wait for the legislative process to play out “in accordance with established procedure.”
The petition asks Zelensky to support draft law No. 12191. As XBIZ reported last year, that bill would decriminalize the creation and distribution of pornography — an activity that currently carries a prison sentence of three to five years.
In his statement, Zelensky does not reveal his position on the issue. Instead, he points out that the Verkhovna Rada — Ukraine’s parliament — is considering the bill, titled “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine to Improve Certain Provisions on Criminal Offenses Against Public Order and Morality,” and that his role as president will only come into play should the Verkhovna Rada adopt the law.
At that point, he notes, his job will be to sign it and put it into effect, or return it for reconsideration with additional proposals.
As XBIZ reported last week, the petition amassed the 25,000 signatures required for official consideration, after OnlyFans model Svitlana Dvornikova published it on June 27 via the Ukrainian president’s electronic petition page.
“It is time to stop hunting people for victimless activities, to remove cases against OnlyFans models from criminal prosecution, and to finally align our law enforcement practice with the principles of a rule of law, where what harms no one cannot be a crime,” Dvornikova argues in the petition.