Prosecutor-General's Office Files Protest against Interior Minister's Decision

Bratislava, 2 December (TASR) - The Prosecutor-General's Office filed a protest on 25 November against Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok's decision to reject the appeal submitted by police officer Peter J. (name abbreviated due to legal reasons) against a personnel order issued by the head of the Internal Affairs Inspectorate (UIS), TASR has learnt from office's spokesperson Zuzana Drobova. The aktuality.sk news website was the first to break the news. It reported that Peter J., the former head of the team investigating the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak, contacted the Prosecutor-General's Office in September to review the legality of the procedure applied by the UIS director as well as the interior minister, who acted as the appellate body in this case. Based on UIS director's order, Peter J. was reassigned to the District Police Directorate in Levice (Nitra region). Drobova clarified that the protest has been filed due to an alleged violation of the law regarding how the minister decided on the appeal, as he incorrectly applied the relevant provisions of the Whistleblowers Protection Act and the Act on the Civil Service of Members of the Police Force, Slovak Intelligence Service, Prison and Court Guard Corps and Railway Police. Droba explained that it was "because the superior of police officer JUDr. P. J. was required, before issuing the personnel order to reassign him to the District Police Directorate, to request the consent of the Whistleblowers Protection Office for the aforementioned personnel order". She added that Sutaj Estok is obliged to decide on the prosecutor's protest within 30 days of its receipt. jrg/df