Media Law Institute to report Verkhovna Rada office's failure to act to PGO

The Media Law Institute is to appeal to the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) due to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine office's failure to comply with the laws regarding making MPs' income and asset declarations public.

"Today, we file a lawsuit to the PGO regarding the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine office's failure to act. It is connected to the violation of the law on foundations for battling corruption and access to public information law," Director of Media Law Institute Taras Shevchenko said at the press conference in Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Wednesday.

According to him, declarations of Ukrainian MPs haven't been published yet, even though this is required by Ukrainian law.

"Administrative Violations Code foresees administrative liability for it, and we're filing a lawsuit to the PGO with the request to open proceeding against officials of the Verkhovna Rada office," Shevchenko said.

He noted that it is the Verkhovna Rada office that is responsible for making declarations public, while MPs are supposed only to fill out their declarations and submit them.

Shevchenko also expressed assurances that the case would be won and said that removal of the head of Verkhovna Rada office would be one of their main demands in case there was a further failure to comply with the law, as observing anti-corruption laws should be a top priority matter.