Gaspar: Attempt at My Ouster Aimed at Distracting from Simecka Case

Bratislava, 1 June (TASR) - The attempt to remove me from office as the parliamentary vice-chair is an effort to distract attention from the affair involving the mother of opposition leader Michal Simecka (Progressive Slovakia/PS), Tibor Gaspar (Smer-SD) declared at a press conference on Monday. Gaspar claimed that the opposition and the media are directing media hysteria against him. He added that he and his lawyer Marek Para will comment on the Purgatory case, in which he faces charges of bribery and founding and orchestrating a criminal group, only after the court hearing scheduled for 8 June. Smer-SD parliamentary caucus leader Jan Richter has criticised the opposition for seeking to draw political conclusions from court proceedings. "I believe that since the first day of this Parliament I have been a thorn in their side because I dare to say that I'm active in Parliament and hold up a mirror to their toothless opposition politics," said Gaspar. "I raise issues by presenting facts, not fabrications, and I try not to mislead people with half-truths. Apparently this irritates my political opponents, because all attention is focused solely on me," he said. Gaspar stated that the only issue that can still be used against him is the pending indictment and court proceedings in the Purgatory case. "We'll comment on that only after 8 June and provide objective information on the state of the Purgatory case," said the parliamentary vice-chair. He added that he's also listed as an injured party in a separate matter concerning suspicions against the police investigators centered around Jan Curilla, who are alleged to have committed criminal offences while conducting their investigations. Gaspar emphasised that he received almost 140,000 votes in the parliamentary election despite facing three criminal charges at the time. According to him, some of those charges have since been dropped as unlawful. "I'm also optimistic about the remaining matter concerning Purgatory. I feel fully responsible for clearly explaining all these nonsensical allegations to our voters, as we are doing today," he said. Gaspar also responded to statements made by witness Zoltan Andrusko during hearings in the case concerning the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and in a case involving alleged preparations for the murders of prosecutors. Last week, Andrusko claimed that he'd previously received an indirect message allegedly originating from then-police president Tibor Gaspar telling him to remain silent or face the same fate as murdered former Hurbanovo mayor Laszlo Basternak. "There is no other defence than to categorically deny this and say that it's complete nonsense," said Gaspar. He pointed out on Monday that the murder investigation had not fallen within his remit. He also noted that he's also spent several periods outside public office since then. Para added that Andrusko made the same allegations in 2022, when neither the media nor law-enforcement authorities paid attention to them. He also announced plans to file civil lawsuits. "A lawsuit will certainly be filed against the 'Slovakia' party and Igor Matovic. It's already being prepared in response to what he did in the parliamentary corridor and the statements he made about my client," said Para, referring to Matovic's remarks directed at Gaspar last week. They are also considering legal action over comments made by Simecka during a weekend politics show, in which he described Gaspar as the face of organised crime. The initiative to remove Gaspar from his post as House vice-chair was launched by Progressive Slovakia. The party said that it intends to raise the issue at every parliamentary session, arguing that Gaspar mustn't serve as a public face of Parliament. Progressive Slovakia points primarily to the Purgatory case, emphasising that Gaspar faces charges relating to serious corruption offences and allegations that he organised a criminal group "at the very core of the police force". mf/df