Matovic: Supreme Court Only Ruled on Dusan K.'s Retrial, Not Innocence

Bratislava, 13 December (TASR) - The Supreme Court didn't say that former Special Prosecutor Dusan K. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons] didn't commit the acts; the court only decided that the trial must start again, opposition 'Slovakia' party leader Igor Matovic said in response to statements made by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and Smer-SD representatives on Saturday. According to Matovic, they lied about Dusan K. being sinless. He added that Fico's exoneration of Dusan K. is 'perverse' in that after two years in power, they have legislatively tied the hands of courts, prosecutors and investigators in cases that directly concern them. In this context, the 'Slovakia' party also refutes claims that the governing coalition is changing laws democratically. According to Matovic, the coalition is only protecting itself in order to enjoy impunity for the past and current cases. He pointed to the recent "riders" [amendments modifying or supplementing a law unrelated to the bill being debated] that were pushed through in connection with the Penal Code, calling such conduct a "legislative crime". As a result of these riders, the courts will not be able to decide fairly, said Matovic. The testimonies of whistleblowers and cooperating witnesses, which the Supreme Court did not dispute, can no longer be used, and the courts must "throw the key witnesses and their testimonies into the trash". Fico told a press conference on Saturday that the Supreme Court's ruling is crucial and ground-breaking, and can be called an "atomic bomb", describing Dusan K. as an innocent man. The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday (11 December) on the appeal filed by Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD) in the case of the accused former head of the Special Prosecutor's Office Dusan K., overturning the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling as well as the 2021 ruling of the Specialised Criminal Court. jrg