Police Reject Zilinka's Claims of Systemic Failures in Corruption Investigation

Bratislava, 4 February (TASR) – The Police Corps has strongly rejected claims that it's been systematically failing in terms of investigating corruption, the Police Corps Presidium press department told TASR on Wednesday in response to statements made by Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka earlier in the day. The police find Zilinka's statements to be "unprofessional and unfounded". "Throughout the entire past year, neither the leadership of the Police Corps nor relevant specialised units were officially alerted by the Prosecutor-General's Office to any systemic shortcomings of the kind publicly presented at the press conference today," stated the police. They noted that under the law, the Prosecutor-General's Office has strong and direct supervisory powers over investigations, including the authority to issue binding instructions, annul unlawful decisions and demand corrective action. "If failures in the fight against corruption have truly been occurring, the prosecution service has not only had the option but also the duty to act. This hasn't happened. To this day, the Police Corps has received no written request, analysis, instruction or inspection conclusion on the basis of which the prosecutor-general has presented this factually unfounded public statement," they added. The police also claimed that the Prosecutor-General's Office doesn't have precise statistical indicators regarding the clear-up rate of criminal offences handled by the police. They also pointed out that specialised police units investigate cases under the supervision of an independent body, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). Public accusations against the police without prior professional communication with law-enforcement authorities are, in their view, neither fair nor responsible. Such statements, they said, weaken not only the police but also undermine public trust in law-enforcement authorities as a whole. mf/df