While the government works on further controversial Criminal Code reforms, more and more people join the anti-government protests across the country, arguing that the reforms would eliminate the anti-corruption Special Prosecutor’s Office and curtail the rights of whistleblowers.
Despite hinting at possible concessions to be worked on “between the first and the second reading” of the bill, Hlas party leader Peter Pellegrini ruled out that the coalition could give up on the amendment entirely.
“This does not change the political intention of the government to come up with a fundamental change in the philosophy of criminal law,” said Pellegrini after a meeting with Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer) and Attorney General Maroš Žilinka.
“However, if there is an opportunity to improve the quality of the laws adopted so that there is no doubt about maintaining the safety of Slovak citizens, we should go for it,” Pellegrini added.
The controversial reform Robert Fico’s government wants to pass would eliminate the anti-corruption Special Prosecutor’s Office, reduce penalties, including those for corruption, and curtail the rights of whistleblowers.
The reform is facing growing resistance and has already been criticised by Brussels as well. The opposition parties are currently postponing the implementation of the reforms by blocking the parliament, which the government initially planned to pass in a fast-tracked procedure before Christmas.
At the same time, the opposition parties and the citizens are organising the fifth round of anti-government protests in several Slovak cities, which are due to continue Thursday.
Last week, the government admitted it might also dismantle the National Crime Agency (NAKA), which investigates particularly serious and socially damaging crimes, including corruption offences, drug crimes, premeditated murders, economic and financial crimes, organised crime, and crimes of extremism and terrorism.
Some of the cases NAKA has uncovered involve nominees of Smer-led governments, including Tibor Gašpar, a former police president, now an MP for Fico’s party.
In a country of 5,4 million people, the last protests on 11 February took place in 14 cities. In Bratislava alone, the turnout has risen to 20,000 – 23,000 demonstrators.
(Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)
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Source: euractiv.com
