Supreme Court: Harabin lies, not fit for public office

The Supreme Court released official salary documents of former court chief Štefan Harabin for 2009 and 2010 on July 20.

Štefan HarabinŠtefan Harabin (Source: SME)

The documents make it apparent that he at the time had indeed ordered extraordinary bonuses totalling €113,000 to be paid on his behalf. By denying that the payments were salary bonuses on July 19, Harabin lied and therefore he should not be entitled to carry out any public post, stated the Court leadership. Harabin currently serves as a Supreme Court judge.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

“Štefan Harabin is lying and deceiving by claiming that the amount of €113,000 represents an additional payment due to judges who decide on appeals against verdicts of the Specialised Criminal Court,” the TASR newswire quoted a press release of the Supreme Court.

SkryťTurn off ads

Harabin’s ordinary salary for (not even a full) seven months of 2009 added up to €74,591, while the extraordinary salary bonus amounted to €40,000. One year later, Harabin earned €139,152; plus he received two bonuses totalling €73,000. According to the Supreme Court, Harabin’s generous bonuses were paid while the “ordinary staff were struggling with a lack of fundamental work tools”.

Nonetheless, Harabin claims that the extra payments for 2009 and 2010 were in line with valid rules allowing a premium to equal six times of the average salary in the country. According to him, this figure was reduced only later, following a ruling of the Constitutional Court.

Apart from that, similar extra payments were received by 20 judges of the Supreme Court and 16 judges of the Specialised Criminal Court in 2009 and 2010, Harabin added, as quoted by TASR.

SkryťTurn off ads

However, the Sme daily pointed out that the law on limiting salaries of special judges entered into force as early as May 20, 2009, while Harabin was elected Supreme Court chairman one month later.

Read also: Harabin asked to return bonuses Read more 

 

Top stories

The future of safer abortion in Slovakia is still unknown.

News digest: Health minister ponders politically fraught abortion pill decision

Summer in Bratislava, the future of stores, and the general prosecutor objects to a sentencing decision.


14 h
Vrakuňa’s citizens presented apples washed in water with leaked toxins at the protest in 2016.

Chemical time bomb in Bratislava’s Vrakuňa keeps ticking

The state is failing to solve leaking chemical waste dump.


31. may
Jupiter (centre) and its Galilean moons: from left Ganymede, Io, Europa and Callisto. Juice with deployed antennas and arrays is in the bottom right.

From Košice to Ganymede: Slovak engineers are leaving their mark in space

Slovaks are active participants in two ongoing space missions.


20. may
Devin Castle

Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners

Tips for the top 10 events in the capital between June 8 and June 18, plus temporary exhibitions, classical music and highlights of the year.


8. jun
SkryťClose ad