Kotlar Welcomes Prosecutor's Decision to Drop His Charge

Bratislava, 21 September (TASR) - Gov't Proxy for Investigation into COVID-19 Pandemic Management Peter Kotlar welcomes the decision by the Prosecutor-General's Office to drop charges of spreading alarmist information against him, TASR learnt on Monday. The prosecutor's decision of 2 September raises fundamental questions about the quality of the original criminal proceedings, Kotlar claimed. "The Prosecutor-General's Office identified a whole range of problems — from the chronology of the use of evidence, through incorrect legal classification and the mixing of political opinions with factual claims, to insufficient individualisation of the alleged acts," he said. Kotlar added that it was particularly absurd that a report by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, publicised on 21 August 2025, had become one of the key arguments in assessing conduct that, according to the charge itself, had taken place much earlier. "If someone says something publicly in 2024 or at the beginning of 2025, you cannot retrospectively create knowledge on their part of a document that did not exist at the time. This is not a question of political opinion. It's a question of basic chronology," Kotlar pointed out. The decision by the Prosecutor-General's Office raises fundamental questions about the quality of the original criminal proceedings, the handling of evidence, the distinction between factual claims and political or value judgements, and, above all, respect for basic procedural rules, Kotlar said. The Prosecutor-General's Office cancelled Kotlar's charge of spreading alarmist information in an appeal proceeding on 2 September. The decision was based on serious substantive and formal legal shortcomings which meant that the resolution charging him could not serve as a lawful basis for criminal prosecution, the prosecutor's office said. SaS lawmakers filed a criminal complaint against the government proxy in March 2025 over statements questioning the safety and effectiveness of mRNA vaccines. Kotlar was subsequently charged with spreading alarmist information. He filed a complaint against the charging decision, which was reviewed by the Prosecutor-General's Office. mf/mcs