BRATISLAVA, July 6, (WEBNOVINY) — The Prosecutor General’s Office will have to rework last year’s report on the operation of its office after parliamentary deputies refused to approve the report on Wednesday and returned it to be partly rewritten. This is the fist time ever this has happened. The reason why the report was not approved were controversial passages in the closing part of the report, which some ruling coalition deputies found to be political statements.
The report states, among other things, that in 2010 a media-supported “witch hunt” began on the prosecution service and Prosecutor General Dobroslav Trnka, which the report said was similar to a campaign against Rudolf Slansky during the 1950’s [a show trial which claimed there existed an anti-state conspiracy centered around Rudolf Slansky – editor’s note]
“All these efforts likely had the sole aim of assuring that JuDr. Trnka is not re-elected prosecutor general,” the report reads. The authors of the report also included in the text a statement that the prosecution service, as a ‘sui generis’ body, does not suit the executive, and claims that “the executive needs a subordinated prosecution service to fulfill political orders of the ruling power.”
In response to criticism, acting Prosecutor General Ladislav Tichy rejected allegations that the report was politicized, saying the report has no political undertones. He further noted that the Prosecutor General’s Office dedicated only one page to the “witch hunt”, and said he did not believe the page had insulted anyone.
The report states, among other facts, that last year criminal charges were pressed against 57,937 people, which is 124 fewer than in 2009. Also, 86 percent of those accused were men. Further, the rate of clarified cases grew last year. Additionally, at the end of last year the prosecution service registered 59,674 open cases, down 4,502 from one year ago (7.01 percent). As of December 31, 2010 there were 830 prosecutors in Slovakia, representing 90.71 percent of the planned figure.
SITA