The Agency for Journalistic Investigations appeared in court on behalf of media journalist Ihor Yushchenko, filing a lawsuit against the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for refusing to provide public information upon a journalist's request.
According to the report, journalists from the "Slidstva.Info" publication sent requests to the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine at the beginning of this year - on January 2, February 1 and February 8 - with the aim of obtaining information about the business trips of people's deputies abroad in the period after the full-scale invasion.
The editors received two identical answers, in which it was noted that the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine does not have the necessary information, which could be obtained only by generalization and analytical processing of data.
In response to journalists' inquiries, it was noted that in accordance with the order of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine dated May 11, 2011 No. 393, the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is not the administrator of information that can be obtained through generalization, analytical processing of data or needs to be created in another way .
In response to the third request of journalists, representatives of the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada refused the previous statements and referred to the restriction of dissemination of information about the activities of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, its bodies and people's deputies under the conditions of martial law. In the reply letter, it was noted that the foreign visits of people's deputies have a significant impact.
Representatives of the VRU emphasized that the results of negotiations and consultations with international partners led to an increase in the volume of important military and humanitarian aid, as well as the creation of a basis for stabilizing the economy and post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.
In addition, the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada indicated that the disclosure of the requested information may harm the interests of national security, which outweighs the public interest.
"Limiting the distribution of such information is a proportionate measure to protect the interests of Ukraine's national security as opposed to the public interest. The significant damage that may be caused to the interests of national security as a result of the disclosure of such information significantly outweighs the public interest in obtaining it," added the VRU Apparatus.
In July 2023, Slidstva.Info journalists learned from their own sources that 48-year-old Yuriy Aristov, deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, People's Deputy from the Servant of the People party, was staying in a luxurious 5 - star hotel Waldorf Astoria Maldives on the private island of Ithaafushi, Maldives.
Journalists sent a request about how the people's deputy crossed the Ukrainian border and whether his trip to the Maldives was a business trip. Despite the promises of the deputy's press secretary to provide an answer to the request within a few hours, the assistant, as well as the People's Deputy himself, ignored the attempts of Slidstva.Info journalists to get answers to the sent questions.
After the publication of the "Slidstva.Info" material, Yuriy Aristov announced his desire to complete the credentials of a People's Deputy of Ukraine.
