24 December 2015 a presentation of Catalog of figures in anticorruption investigative journalism (FAJ) took place. The expert lawyer of Media Law Institute Halia Chyzhyk, being a part of the civil movement CHESNO, together with Andriy Kruglashkov (CHESNO), Yegor Poliakov (CHESNO), and Vadym Hudyma (CHESNO), worked hand-in-hand and developed this new anticorruption online instrument. At the press conference, the lawyer of the Anticorruption Action Centre Olena Shcherban participated as well.
The Catalog of FAJ contains the information on the corruption schemes, and names and surnames of the persons involved in investigative journalism of “Our Money”, “Schemes”, “Ukrainian Truth” and “Slidstvo.Info” and other respected journalistic publications.
The Catalog systematizes information about the corrupt officials in powers and in business, this information can be found on the website and searched for by a person and a legal entity. The pivotal goals of the catalog are to make corruption visible and “unacceptably expensive.” After all, corruption “poisons the political activity in Ukraine” – emphasized Vadym Hudyma. “Unfortunately, the law enforcement and judicial systems in Ukraine do not work properly. Thus, the majority of anticorruption revelations is still made by journalists, and not by the prosecutor’s office, police or a courthouse”, – pointed out Halia Chyzhyk. – We solemnly believe that our source, the Catalog of figures of anticorruption journalistic investigations, will become the source for law enforcement officers to punish persons who employed illegitimate methods for them to gain certain benefits.”
“This portal can become a good platform for citizens to make their own analytical conclusions,” – added Olena Shcherban, – and this is one of the fundamental characteristics of a democratic society.” At the same time, as pointed out Andriy Krugliashkov: “FAI is the opportunity to create an institute of political memory in Ukraine.”
Currently, the Catalog FAJ contains more than 100 descriptions of corruption schemes, in which around 300 persons were involved. The team of the movement CHESNO continues to work together on the enlargement of the Catalog.