Fico government to tighten grip on whistleblowers amid EU infringement fears

11 months ago 37

Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government wants to strip Smer investigators of their legal protection, but a legal expert warns that the EU Commission could launch an infringement procedure.

The proposed changes include ensuring that police officers cannot obtain protected whistleblower status and giving the Attorney General the power to overturn court decisions granting it.

“If indeed they do that, the Commission has the discretion to initiate the infringement procedure,” Executive Director of the European Whistleblowing Institute Vigjilenca Abazi told Euractiv Slovakia, adding that the EU directive prohibits this.

If the government were to implement the new powers of the Prosecutor General, it would “further support fears that the Commission could launch a regulation on conditionality in Slovakia”, she said.

Grounds for possible infringement proceedings or other measures to protect the rule of law in Slovakia have increased since Fico’s government took office.

Proposed changes that he wants to push through quickly include abolishing the special prosecutor’s office, reducing penalties for corruption and changing the way heads of regulatory agencies are appointed and dismissed.

Attorney General Maroš Žilinka has already objected to an aspect of the law that would remove protection from investigators who have already received it, warning that the amendment fundamentally violates the principle of non-retroactivity.

Parliament Speaker Peter Pellegrini responded to the retroactivity objection by announcing that the government would submit an amending bill.

This autumn, Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok suspended a group of six police officers who were investigating former Slovak police chief and current Smer MP Tibor Gašpar, as well as oligarchs with links to Smer Michal Suchoba and Norbert Bodor.

However, the courts sent half of them back to work, arguing that Eštok acted unlawfully, as they were granted whistleblower status.

Slovakia currently has a total of 58 registered people who have obtained the status of a protected whistleblower, meaning they cannot be dismissed from work or reassigned to a lower position, reported Denník N.

(Natália Silenská, Barbara Zmušková | Euractiv.sk)