Zelensky preparing bill to return imprisonment for e-declaration fraud

Ukrainian President Zelensky is preparing to submit a
bill to parliament to reintroduce imprisonment as punishment for violating
anti-corruption legislation, said on Dec. 28 Andriy Yermak, the head of the
President’s Office. This particularly applies filing fraudulent electronic
declarations on income and assets.

Recall, Ukraine’s Constitutional Court reached a
scandalous ruling on Oct. 27 that the established punishment, including
imprisonment, for filing fraudulent e-declarations was excessive. The effect of
the ruling was to disrupt most of Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions, which
had been sponsored by IMF loans and relied on the overturned legislation.

To resolve the crisis caused by the ruling, parliament
approved legislation on Dec. 4
to restore the legislation establishing punishment for fraudulent
e-declarations, but without imprisonment. Zelensky signed the bill on Dec. 23.

Zenon Zawada: We expected
that Western authorities would demand that Zelensky restore imprisonment as
potential punishment for e-declarations. Otherwise, the new legislation would
not be effective in deterring fraudulent e-declarations. And we believe these
authorities are what’s motivating Zelensky to submit this legislation,
otherwise he would have required imprisonment in the bill he signed on Dec. 23.

Unfortunately, the situation with Zelensky on
pro-Western reforms is similar to what his predecessor Poroshenko demonstrated.
Both presidents stalled on reforms, only pursuing them when they are necessary
for loan money and not interfering with their own interests of maintaining
power. They have not been proactive in pursuing the needed reforms, losing much
needed loan tranches several times.