11 key anti-corruption organizations called on the Constitutional Court not to put the future of Ukraine under the threat for the sake of the political elite’s desire to plunder the country with impunity.

On February 26, it was reported that the Constitutional Court found the article of the Criminal Code, which foresees punishment for the illicit enrichment of officials, unconstitutional.

According to the public, such decision of the Constitutional Court will result in the closure of at least 50 cases of alleged illicit enrichment of top officials which are currently investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. They will also close all respective cases that are currently heard in courts.

Moreover, the decriminalization of illicit enrichment violates international obligations of Ukraine and may lead to the termination of cooperation with the International Monetary Fund.

“The decriminalization of illicit enrichment, in fact, will mean the provision of impunity for officials at the cost of significant financial problems for all Ukrainians”, says the statement of non-governmental organization.

According to the statement, all subjects of the e-declaration will receive indulgence on questionable assets, acquired over past two and a half years, after putting into operation the responsibility for the illicit enrichment in the new edition.

The concept of officials’ e-declaration, according to the public, will be destroyed at all. “The declaration system will turn from the mechanism for exposing corruption and initiating the prosecution into the system of informing the population about officials’ enrichment”, according to the statement.

The crime of false statements in the declaration will also lose its value, because if the acquisition of unjustified property becomes legal, the “need” of false declaring will disappear.

Non-governmental organizations also stressed that there are no legal grounds for considering the crime of illicit enrichment unconstitutional and violating the presumption of innocence.