Smer-SD Wants Special House Session, PM Should Explain Secret Meeting at SIS
Bratislava, May 21 (TASR) – The opposition Smer-SD party wants to initiate a special parliamentary session at which Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OLaNO) should explain a “secret meeting” involving state representatives at the headquarters of the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS), party leader Robert Fico told a news conference on Friday.
Smer-SD plans to contact Independent MPs regarding collecting the signatures needed to convene the session. If it manages to collect the signatures on Friday, it will file a respective motion in Parliament as early as on Friday afternoon. “We’ll see what attitude the governing coalition takes towards this session,” stated Fico, adding that if the prime minister wants to keep certain details to himself, he can do so, but the opposition expects an explanation. Fico conceded that the special session might be held behind closed doors.
Fico claims that the political representatives discussed “active cases” during the meeting at SIS. They allegedly also spoke about influencing and manipulating detained people who have decided to cooperate with the police and are providing testimony in several cases. There is information indicating that criminal prosecutions in several cases were politically influenced, claims Fico. If it is shown that procedures during investigations into various cases were manipulated, all those currently in custody should be released, he stated.
The extra-parliamentary Voice-SD also called on the prime minister to inform the public about the meeting. “The prime minister must explain his motives for organising this non-standard meeting that casts doubt on the principles of the rule of law and a democratic state. Otherwise, he shouldn’t be surprised if people no longer trust the activities of law-enforcement authorities in politically sensitive cases,” reads the party’s statement.
According to information that has appeared in the media, some ten people, including top constitutional officials, allegedly participated in a meeting organised by the prime minister. They allegedly discussed suspicions that investigations into some major corruption cases might have been manipulated. The case of SIS ex-chief Vladimir P. was reportedly mentioned in this connection.
