Lipsic: Spirko Prosecution Is Purpose-built, Absurd and Fabricated

Lipsic: Spirko Prosecution Is Purpose-built, Absurd and Fabricated

Bratislava, August 4 (TASR) – The criminal prosecution of prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Vasil Spirko has confirmed the worst fears that it is purpose-built, absurd and fabricated, Opposition MP Daniel Lipsic (OLaNO-NOVA) told a news conference in Bratislava on Thursday.

According to information in the media, the National Crime Agency (NAKA) has charged Spirko with the crime of misusing a public official’s powers. Spirko was in charge of the investigation into Interior Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD), who has been accused of interfering in a tax fraud case involving entrepreneur Ladislav Basternak. No details concerning Spirko’s alleged crime have been released. Spirko has filed an official complaint against the charges.

“From the legal viewpoint, charges against the prosecutor who was dealing with suspicions concerning Interior Minister Robert Kalinak are on the same level as sweeping the Basternak case under the carpet. All legal considerations are absent here. The resolution was issued based on a criminal complaint filed by convicted tax dodger Lubos Varga and his lawyer. They didn’t start a criminal investigation into any particular issue, they directly ‘fired’ charges against the prosecutor. The National Crime Agency obviously trusts a convicted tax dodger more than an elite prosecutor,” said Lipsic, adding that Spirko hasn’t committed any crime.

According to Lipsic, NAKA under minister Kalinak is changing into a “cleaner”. “On one hand, it’s sweeping scandals involving Government officials under the carpet, and on the other it’s fabricating scandals about people who want to install truth and justice in Slovakia,” said Lipsic.

Lipsic sees three motives behind such behaviour. “The first one is an effort to sidetrack an honest prosecutor, the second is to get information. Kalinak now knows what Spirko was working on and what evidence he had collected against him,” he stated. “The third motive was to intimidate honest police officers and prosecutors,” added Lipsic, who asked governing coalition parties Most-Hid and Siet (Network) whether their MPs and ministers will continue to keep quiet. “Will they pretend that Kalinak still has their support?” he mused.

Another Opposition MP Jozef Rajtar (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) also thinks that all the accusations against Spirko have been built on sand. “Therefore, we’re asking why such charges have been pressed at all and why the supervising prosecutor hasn’t made any changes. Cases like this didn’t happen even during [former premier] Vladimir Meciar’s terms in office [in the 1990s]. At that time a file was withdrawn from an investigator. Now they dare to press unfounded charges against the prosecutor who was supervising Kalinak’s case. The Basternak coalition has definitely decided to abduct Slovakia from the civilised world, regardless of the consequences,” he said.

Rajtar also asked how strong the ties between the coalition partners must be if they are willing to tolerate such a “kidnapping” of Slovakia. “We demand that action is taken against such proceedings. The judiciary and police must undergo a huge personnel and organisational reform,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bratislava Regional Court judge Peter Sramko has published his stance concerning the charges against Spirko on the pravnelisty.sk website. In his opinion, Spirko hasn’t committed any crime.