Kolikova: There Were No Machinations with Human Rights Project Subsidies

Bratislava, September 4 (TASR) - Decisions on the granting of subsidies to human rights projects under the previous management of the Justice Ministry were transparent, ex-justice minister and MP Maria Kolikova (SaS) declared on Wednesday. Kolikova responded this way to statements by coalition politicians on the result of an audit. She rejected any effort to cast aspersions over the subsidies and called on Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD) to publish the audit report. Kolikova claimed that the information from the audit is contradictory. "We've heard poppycock about how these subsidies were supposedly granted - that allegedly it was the decision of two people and non-transparent. But that's not true," she said and added that at least four evaluators assessed the projects and nothing was unlawful. Kolikova called statements by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) distorting and even misleading. The majority on the project-evaluating committee was made up of representatives of civic society and not ministerial clerks. On the contrary, it is today when any transparency is lacking, said Kolikova, who believes that the government is attempting to divert attention away from the fact that they're attempting to let "their people" escape justice. Kolikova also condemned a video released by the Justice Ministry with respect to the now-defunct analytical centre and warned that the ministry is impugning data-informed work. She also reiterated her call on Justice Minister Susko to explain to the public why convicted former special prosecutor Dusan K. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons] has been released from prison. mf/mcs