Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed on Thursday establishing an online resource that would provide information on action taken against state and government officials guilty of abuses and other misdemeanors.
The resource should provide up-to-date information, for example, on a government official charged with a crime, he said.
“We can write that the charges were dismissed for lack of evidence… or that he has been convicted,” Medvedev said.
That information should be available for all media outlets to publish at their discretion, he added.
He also proposed a higher level of publicity and transparency “for our open government and our state as a whole,” including the publication of tax declarations filed by all senior officials.
Exceptions will be made for top officials, such as the president, prime minister, cabinet members, governors, and some others, he added.
He warned, however, that public oversight of the income and spending by former government officials who have left the civil service for the business sector should not turn into a “witch hunt.”
