Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko calls on the Verkhovna Rada to increase responsibility for corruption crimes, providing for a minimum sanction in the form of a year of imprisonment, without the possibility of penalties.

"The current legislation, contrary to the daily speeches of the deputies of all factions calling for fighting corruption, allows fining corrupt officials," the Prosecutor General said at the final meeting on Wednesday.

The Prosecutor General said: "Today I want to appeal to the Verkhovna Rada with the proposal of the following changes in legislation: to increase the responsibility for giving or receiving bribes, illegal enrichment and other corruption crimes. There cannot be any fines there, at least one year of imprisonment. This is the minimum boundary of the judge's assessment of a corruption offense."

According to Lutsenko, these changes are extremely necessary for the "triumph of justice during rendering of court decisions on sentences against corrupt officials."

The Prosecutor General also proposes to introduce legislative changes in the Criminal Procedure Code, so that the courts automatically remove corrupt officials from their posts from the moment of choosing a preventive measure and until the completion of the pretrial investigation.