SNS Welcomes Acquittal of Stefan H. and Calls for Criminal Law Reform

Bratislava, May 30 (TASR) - The coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) welcomes the decision by the Special Criminal Court to acquit former justice minister (2006-09) and former chair of the Supreme Court and Judicial Council Stefan H. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons] of charges related to his public approval of Russia's aggression in Ukraine. The party claimed that the case revealed ineffectiveness and contradictions in criminal proceedings. Therefore, it is calling for a reform of criminal law "Friday’s decision should be an example from which Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD) in particular should learn. I'll also discuss it with Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD). I often see endless press conferences about how the law-enforcement authorities act in an ineffective manner and interfere in people's lives. But I'm asking out loud: if Stefan H. didn't have such legal awareness and was an ordinary person, how might his life have turned out?" he remarked. The SNS leader believes that cases like Stefan H.’s should be resolved at the pre-trial stage. "A large number of police officers, prosecutors and judges focused on Stefan H. instead of prosecuting actual criminals," he said. He pointed to the financial impacts of the criminal proceedings and the damage to Stefan H.'s reputation, wondering who will pay compensation in this case. The SNS leader also underlined that the decision is not yet final and called on prosecutors to drop the case. In addition, Danko touched on damage to reputation in connection with the media. He believes that this area needs to be addressed as well and announced that SNS MPs will submit a proposal at the September parliamentary session to transform the Council for Media Services into a National Media Authority. He recalled that a draft amendment to the Act on Publishers of Publications, which aims to reintroduce the right of reply, is currently in Parliament due to SNS and voiced his hope that lawmakers will approve it. The Specialised Criminal Court acquitted Stefan H. of charges in the case concerning the defendant's public approval of Russia's aggression in Ukraine. According to judge Jan Buvala, the act in question is not a criminal offence. The indictment was filed for the offence of defamation of a nation, race and belief, and for the offence of approving of a criminal act. The court's decision is not yet final, as the prosecutor has announced an appeal. mf/df