Fico: Court Verdicts in Cases of NBS Governor and Shepherd Axe Man Controversial

Bratislava, May 29 (TASR) - Thursday’s court verdict concerning the Governor of the Slovak Central Bank (NBS), Peter K. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons], and the prosecution's decision in the case of the man with a shepherd’s axe are, according to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD), controversial, TASR learnt from the Government's Office press statement on Thursday. In the case of the NBS Governor, Fico believes that the judge's decision raises the question of whether it was intended to serve the political goals of the opposition and to harm the governing parties. „Even a law student must see the utter absurdities in the guilty verdict," he stated. „I cannot shake the feeling that there is a legitimate reason to look into possible suspicions that the judge committed several criminal offenses and to consider what purpose the conviction was really meant to serve," the Prime Minister added, saying he expects the Voice-SD party to take action in this regard. Fico also criticized the decision of the Bratislava district prosecutor to drop charges against the man with the shepherd’s axe, who allegedly threatened the Prime Minister in a video. He claims the decision was influenced by the prosecutor’s political sympathies toward the current opposition. The argument that the video must be viewed under the principles of freedom of speech is, according to Fico, extremely dangerous, and the decision could encourage further hate-fueled attacks. In this context, he calls on Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka to "bring order to the prosecutor’s office." Earlier on Thursday, the Specialized Criminal Court in Pezinok found former finance minister and current NBS Governor Peter K. guilty of bribery. He was fined €200,000, with a substitute one-year prison sentence if the fine is not paid. The District Prosecutor's Office Bratislava I dropped the charge of incitement against P. L., deeming the charge unlawful. The decision from May 20 was announced on Thursday by the spokesperson of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Bratislava, Gabriela Kovacova. mf