Opposition Criticises Mazak's Ouster From Judicial Council's Top Post

Bratislava, April 16 (TASR) - Opposition parties PS, KDH and SaS criticised the ouster of Jan Mazak from the post of the Judicial Council head on Tuesday. According to lawmaker Lucia Plavakova (PS), the coalition intends to assume complete control over the judiciary. "We've been warning about this for a longer time, but today they've come closer to that aim with two steps at once - the dismissal of Judicial Council chair Jana Mazak and the election of its new member. The new member, however, lacks any qualification for such an important position in our view," warned Plavakova. After this, she believes that the Judicial Council will no longer be able to play its crucial role in ensuring the independence of the judiciary. Lawmaker Maria Kolikova (SaS) warned that the Judicial Council as a body of judge legitimacy will lose its capability to stand on the side of honest judges for an extended period and claimed that close attention must be paid to future activities of the Council, as it can interfere in the workings of the judiciary. Mazak's dismissal was criticised also by KDH caucus chair Martina Holeckova. "The governing coalition continues to bulldoze its way through Slovakia. After the scrapping of the Special Prosecutor's Office, suspension of inconvenient investigators and other innumerable personnel exchanges in state institutions, they have ousted also Judicial Council chair Jan Mazak," said Holeckova. She pointed out to Prime Minister Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) statement from last week, when Fico had said that Mazak's fate would be decided soon. Non-parliamentary 'Democrats' party finds the Judicial Council's Tuesday's vote undignified, as Mazak was not even given any time to prepare his defence. mf