SaS Welcomes Court Suspension of Change Regarding Cooperating Defendants

Bratislava, 11 February (TASR) - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party has welcomed the Constitutional Court's decision to suspend the effect of an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code concerning cooperating defendants, describing it as good news. SaS MP Maria Kolikova reiterated the negative impacts of the change at a press conference on Wednesday. "The amendment pushed through by the governing coalition at the last parliamentary session was truly disgraceful. Such a set-up would have meant Slovakia becoming powerless in combating the mafia when dismantling organised criminal groups," she said. Kolikova pointed to negative consequences already visible in practice. "We've seen this at the Specialised Criminal Court, for example, in cases involving drug gangs, where this amendment prevented proper court proceedings. I welcome all the more the decision of the Constitutional Court, which clearly said that the rules cannot be changed in this way," she added. The Constitutional Court suspended the effect of the amendment concerning the inadmissibility of evidence obtained from a cooperating defendant. It didn't grant a request to suspend the remainder of the amendment to the Criminal Code adopted by Parliament last December. The decision relates to a submission by a group of opposition MPs, which the court has accepted for further proceedings. mf/df