1st April 2004 the RF Council State committee for the civil, criminal and arbitration law made a recommendation to the RF State Council overriding the amendments to the RF Criminal Code, according to which homosexuality is a criminal act.

As a matter of remembrance, the related draft law regarding making amendments and supplements to the applicable criminal law was introduced by Mr. Gennadi Raikov, Mr. Zelimkhan Mutsoyev, Mr. Gadzhi Makhatchev, as well as by Mr. Vadim Bulavinov.

The Draft Law stipulated that Article 131.1 providing that "unnatural sexual satisfaction by man with man shall be punishable by 1 to 5 years' imprisonment" be included in the RF Criminal Code.

According to the authors of this document, its relevance is "strengthening the public morality and improving the health of the people".

However, these deputies' colleagues decided in favour of rejecting this legislative initiative by reminding that the pederasty article had already been withdrawn from the new RF Criminal Code, which is in keeping with the RF Constitution that guarantees the Russian citizens the right to privacy in their personal and family lives.

The RF State Council Legal Department's conclusion regarding the Draft Law was also negative - there's no sign of evident social danger in the act to qualify for a criminal offence.