Venezuela’s National Assembly approved on Tuesday, in a first reading, the bill for a partial reform of the Constitutional Law against Hatred, at the request of the executive.

The reform replaces prison sentences with fines and community work and sets out clear administrative procedures for applying the law; the text drops the word “hatred” and is to be renamed the Law for Democratic Coexistence, Peace and Coexistence. Opposition lawmaker Amelia Belisario said the law “served to persecute dissent.” The non-governmental organization Espacio Público warned that the reform keeps mechanisms that can restrict freedom of expression, by leaving sanctioning procedures in the hands of the ministry with jurisdiction over justice.