In Chernivtsi, journalist's request to provide declarations of oblast council deputies was rejected

The journalist of Chernivtsi newspaper «Molodyi Bukovynets» Mykola Kobyliuk received a refusal to provide copies of tax declarations of the deputies of Chernivtsi oblast council, giving as a reason protection of personal data, absence of permission to release this information to him, as this information can be released only to investigators of governmental agencies. No means to file a complaint against such decision were provided. By this written response, the oblast council violated the law “On access to public information”. The journalist addressed the media lawyer for development of regional press Oleksander Bumahin, who helped to compose a repeated request for the same information, with detail references to all applicable laws.