Slovakia’s PM slams judge over conviction of central bank boss

Robert Fico, the prime minister of Slovakia, has criticised the judge who found the governor of the country’s central bank guilty of corruption.

The combative premier reacted on Friday to Petr Kazimir’s conviction as his former finance minister, suggesting that the verdict was motivated by politics and that Specialised Criminal Court judge Milan Cisarik should face criminal charges.

Since regaining control in 2023, Fico has dissolved the police and prosecutor branches that were established to investigate corruption between 2012 and 2020.

Kazimir was found guilty and fined $200, 000 ($226,500) on Thursday for bribing a tax official while Fico’s previous government was in power. He denied any wrongdoing and said he plans to file an appeal, claiming that the long-standing allegations were made up.

Even a law school student must see fatal nonsense in the verdict, the Slovak leader said on Thursday, “sooner question whether the judge’s decision should have served the opposition’s political objectives to harm the ruling parties.”

“I can’t help but feel that the judge’s inquiry into the possibility of a number of criminal acts and the intended purpose of the ruling is justified.”

Fico’s remarks were not addressed by the court. The For Open Justice (ZOJ) NGO warned that “direct political pressure on the judiciary can also be felt when members of the government make public statements.”

Revenge

In the wake of the controversies surrounding Jan Kuciak’s assassination in 2018, Fico resigned from power. The former prime minister and his inner circle are suspected of having a network of corruption, according to the new government’s investigation.

Fico frequently argued that the measures were motivated by politics. He immediately began tearing up the units and changing the criminal code to lower corruption penalties when he came back to power in late 2023.

He has been accused of committing retaliation against those who are being investigated by his circle by critics.

Kazimir was the first former Fico minister to face legal action when he was first accused of paying the country’s tax office’s chief a bribe of 48, 000 euros ($54, 360) in 2017-18 in connection with an audit of a number of private companies in April of that year.