Sulik Threatens to Take Fico to Court over SaS Drug Abuse Comments
Bratislava, February 27 (TASR) – Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) chairman Richard Sulik intends to file a criminal complaint and bring a civil lawsuit against Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) for his allegations that SaS representatives have a drugs problem – unless Fico retracts his accusations.
“Robert Fico has gone too far. I don’t expect him to apologise … I’ll be fine if he backtracks on his allegations. If he fails to do so, however, I’ll bring a civil lawsuit and file a criminal complaint against Robert Fico,” Sulik told a press conference.
Calling the premier’s statements low-down, trumped-up and baseless, Sulik backed up his point by noting that he’s actually had a drugs test carried out by head of the Bratislava-based Centre for Treating Drug Dependencies Lubomir Okruhlica.
“I don’t know what precisely Robert Fico meant by ‘white powder’, if it was cocaine or methamphetamine. I don’t know this stuff, I’ve never touched those things in my life, so it’s only natural that the tests came back negative,” said Sulik.
Head of the party’s caucus Natalia Blahova denounced the “dangerous” spreading of such lies by a person in the position of prime minister. SaS’s caucus has intelligent and respectable people that I’ve never seen under the influence of drugs, she said.
SaS MP Lubomir Galko offered to have a drugs test as well – as long as Interior Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) comes along. “The laboratory to carry out the tests is this gentleman’s [Kalinak’s] call,” said Galko.
Meanwhile, the party is sticking to its guns when it comes to criticism concerning the track record of Special Prosecutor Dusan Kovacik, who – after dealing with 61 cases since taking up office eight years ago – is yet to file his first indictment.
“There was a way to oust [now former chairman of energy regulator URSO] Jozef Holjencik, so there must be a way to oust Kovacik, too,” said Sulik. He added that Kovacik enjoys protection from Fico and has been installed in office precisely in order to sweep scandals implicating Smer under the carpet.
Sulik pledged to have Kovacik and three other officials – the prosecutor-general, National Crime Agency head and Police Corps president – removed if SaS makes it into government. He said that he’s convinced that if the four authorities are headed by four law-abiding and courageous people, in conjunction with a courageous judge, Fico will end up in jail.
Fico implicated SaS in substance abuse last Friday as part of his comments on the Government’s commitment to fight corruption and in response to Sulik’s call to have Kovacik removed. “Let’s not respond to this in the way that Mr. Sulik has. That’s a road to hell. Excuse me, but being a very honest person I’ll be very forthright. I believe that the main problem in SaS isn’t differences of opinion. It’s drugs. And I’m dead serious about that,” said the premier.
