DANIEL Lipšic, leader of the New Majority – Agreement (NOVA) movement, filed a criminal complaint over the Gorilla case, claiming serious suspicions connected with abusing the power by public servants and obstruction of justice. The complaint came in response to the statement of Prime Minister Robert Fico that the whole case is based on unsubstantiated rumours, published by the Sme daily in its December 19 issue.
The government responded that the Gorilla case is a scandal of second government of Mikuláš Dzurinda (2002-06), in which Lipšic himself was a member, the TASR newswire wrote.
According to Lipšic, during the first government of Robert Fico (2006-10) someone ordered to shred the original transcript of the recording allegedly made by the Slovak Information Service (SIS), the country’s main intelligence agency, in which it collected information about the influence of the Penta financial group on senior Slovak politicians between 2005 and 2006. The wiretapping took place between November 2010 and January 2011.
The document alleges that Fico might have visited the flat which the SIS wiretapped. The prime minister however refuses to comment on the suspicion. He even does not want to say whether he gave testimony in connection with the investigation.
“I consider it unbelievable insolence when a person, who was [mentioned] in the Gorilla case and during whose government the legally made voice recording was made, talks about lies and rumours,” Lipšic said, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
If Fico considers the information from the file rumours, he should order to release from oath of secrecy all SIS agents who were involved in the case, Lipšic said, as reported by SITA.
Lipšic said that according to him Fico is running for president only because he does not want the people who are close to him to be punished. Lipšic also promised that NOVA will do everything to prevent Fico from being elected president, SITA wrote.
Since Lipšic was member of the Dzurinda government at the time the wiretapping took place, he will be filing a criminal complaint against himself, responded Erik Tomáš, head of the press department of the Government Office, as reported by TASR.
“If it were even true that Robert Fico had an innocent conversation with someone – a conversation that does not disqualify him – then it must also be true that Mr Dzurinda and [former chairman of the Christian Democratic Movement Pavol] Hrušovský were splitting Sk200 million among themselves [from corruption activities linked with privatisation],” Tomáš said, as quoted by TASR.
The investigation into the Gorilla case remains open. Earlier in December the police team probing the Gorilla case have launched three new criminal investigations, while also asking for legal help from Cyprus, the UK and Austria, and plans to apply for cooperation to the United States and the Czech Republic and question dozens of new witnesses, reads the report presented by Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák.
Source: TASR, SITA, Sme
For more information about this story please see: Kaliňák: Three new investigations launched in the Gorilla Case
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
