The amendments to the Criminal Code were adopted with the support of 78 members of the ruling coalition in the 150-member parliament. The opposition boycotted this vote.
The vote took place using the accelerated parliamentary procedure, a move condemned by the country’s president, Zuzana Čaputova, and the entire opposition.
In response to criticism, the government has revised the original bill slightly, proposing stiffer penalties for some crimes. The move, however, has not silenced critics who are outraged, for example, by reducing the statute of limitations from 20 years to 10 years for crimes such as rape.
According to the adopted amendments, the powers of the Prosecutor General Maroš Žilinka will be extended from March 20.
President Čaputová criticized the new law, declaring that “the adoption of amendments to the Criminal Code is bad news for Slovakia and all its citizens.”
“It is unacceptable that such serious changes in the country’s criminal policy take place without a proper legislative process. I will consider all possible options (..) to prevent this law from entering into force,” said the president. However, a possible presidential veto can be overridden by the parliament with a simple majority.
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The plan approved by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government and passed by parliament calls for closing the special prosecutor’s office that deals with the most serious crimes and corruption cases, reducing penalties for corruption and weakening protections for whistleblowers. It is expected that cases from the special prosecutor’s office will be taken over by the regional prosecutor’s offices, which have not dealt with such crimes, including organized crime and extremism, for 20 years.
The opposition claims that Fico’s plan will favor businessmen and oligarchs who are closely linked to his “Direction – Social Democracy” (“Smer-SD”) party.
Demonstrations against the new law were held in 15 cities on Thursday, with thousands of people marching.
In January, the European Parliament questioned Slovakia’s ability to fight corruption and protect the European Union (EU) budget if amendments to the criminal code are adopted. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office also announced that Slovakia’s plans threaten the protection of the EU’s financial interests and the bloc’s anti-corruption system.
This issue is expected to affect the results of the presidential elections scheduled for March. A total of 10 candidates are running in the elections, and their first round will take place on March 23. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes in the first round, the second round of elections will be held on April 6.
2024-02-09 08:40:20
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