Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) MP Richard Vašečka has called on Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák to present a report on President Ivan Gašparovič's whereabouts during the summer of 2009, when forester Michal Bobák was shot dead in a hunting accident.

Vašečka wants the minister to present this information at the next session of the parliamentary defence and security committee to disprove the conspiracy theories widely circulating among the public that the president is responsible for the fatal accident. "We can't tolerate it ... when doubts emerge among the public and the reputation of President Ivan Gašparovič takes a hit. Unfortunately, the botched communication strategy of the President's Office has contributed to this in the same way as the decision made by your office not to publish, in the appropriate extent, the information that could disprove these doubts," reads Vašečka's letter to Kaliňák.

On Sunday, Gašparovič said on Slovak Television's politics show 'O päť minút dvanásť' (Five Minutes to Twelve) that he stands in favour of declassifying the information on where he was during the fateful hunting trip. "As far as this day goes, if there are any doubts, I'll raise both hands for having the information on my whereabouts on that day published," said the president, as quoted by the TASR newswire. He conceded that it was unfortunate for the President's Office to present incorrect information on his whereabouts [twice in a row], but stressed that people from the Office mistakenly thought he was vacationing at the time. The president said that he was in Bratislava and [his home] in Limbach at the time the hunting trip took place.

Blogger Juraj Poláček mentioned the hunting trip where the president's friend and fellow hunting partner Michal Bobák lost his life. The responsibility for involuntary manslaughter was claimed by Štefan Drozd. The president views the blog post as slander and has filed a criminal complaint over it.

(Source: TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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