Justice Ministry: Kolikova Hits New Low, Trying to Cover up Own Failures

Bratislava, 1 August (TASR) – Former justice minister (2020-23) and MP Maria Kolikova (SaS) “has hit a new low and demonstrated her lack of integrity,” Justice Ministry press department head Peter Lazarov said in response to Kolikova’s Friday call to publish the appeal that led to the release of convicted former special prosecutor Dusan Kovacik from prison. Lazarov accused Kolíkova of trying to cover up her failures during her tenure as justice minister by mobilising her supporters from the informal and independent judges’ initiative ‘For Open Justice’. He added that their misleading claims were immediately refuted, and that today Kolikova raised the "bombastic issue" of Kovacik’s case, which Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD) addressed a year ago and still stands by. Kolikova urged minister Susko to make public the appeal based on which former special prosecutor Dusan Kovacik was released. She noted that Susko filed the appeal about a year ago but has yet to publish it. At the time, Susko also decided to suspend Kovacik’s prison sentence until the Supreme Court rules on the appeal. mf