French lawmakers on Tuesday diluted plans to make politicians declare their wealth and backed harsh penalties for journalists who publish the information, in an embarrassing setback for President Francois Hollande's transparency drive, reports Reuters.
Hollande's government, reeling from the resignation of a budget minister over a secret Swiss bank account, drafted a bill in April to force politicians to declare their assets, income and potential conflicts of interest to an independent authority.
But worried about their privacy, lower house lawmakers, including from Hollande's own Socialist Party, voted in favour of an amended version of the bill that would only provide the information to people who specifically requested it and would ban publication of the details.
In a move likely to make reporters think twice about using the declarations for stories, any breach of the ban would be subject to a jail sentence of one year and could lead to a fine of 45,000 euros ($58,800).
Read more of this report from Reuters.