Fico: Special Prosecutor's Office and NAKA Interfere with Election Campaign

Bratislava, September 19 (TASR) - The aim of the Special Prosecutor's Office and National Criminal Agency (NAKA) is to interfere with the election campaign and damage the opposition, Smer-SD chair Robert Fico declared in response to the indictment of two former Military Intelligence directors on Tuesday. Fico perceives Tuesday's press conference held by police chief Stefan Hamran as a political activity. "This case is two years old, so why was it necessary to do a press conference nine days before the election and attack the opposition? Why couldn't this be done on October 1, a day after the parliamentary election?" asked Fico, who considers the timing a misuse of criminal law against the opposition. According to Fico, the case is particularly sensitive, as it concerns intelligence service operations. "I've got no idea what's it about," he remarked. As part of an operation nicknamed Virus, NAKA indicted 16 individuals and two legal entities, including former Military Intelligence heads Lubomir S. and Jan B. [names abbreviated due to legal reasons]. The case revolves around allegedly overpriced tenders conducted by the Military Intelligence in 2013-20, which caused Slovakia financial damage of at least €74 million. mf/mcs