Slovakia still does not punish politicians for corruption

The country dropped in the Corruption Perception Index.

Illustrative stock photoIllustrative stock photo (Source: TASR)

Slovakia does not perform well when it comes to the perception of corruption.

It ranked 59th out of 180 countries in the recent Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published by the ethics watchdog Transparency International, scoring only 50 out of 100 points. It fell two places compared with 2018, and five places compared with 2016, when the term of the current government started.

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Only five EU countries scored worse in the ranking, namely Hungary, Greece, Croatia, Romania, and Bulgaria.

To improve Slovakia’s position, it would be necessary to elect trustworthy people to the leading posts at the prosecutor’s office and bring a satisfactory end to the politically sensitive case.

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It would also be better if prosecutors and police officers were chosen more transparently, and the government finally made the new office to protect whistleblowers fully functional, Transparency International Slovakia (TIS) suggests.

Related article UPDATED: Charges against ex-general prosecutor Trnka dropped Read more 

Number of sentences low

The unsuccessful fight against corruption has been confirmed by a recent study carried out by TIS, which analysed the verdicts issued by the Specialised Criminal Court. Two-thirds of the rulings that punished perpetrators concern small corruption with bribes below €500, while 40 percent concern cases with bribes below €100.

In addition, the total number of finished cases in 2016-2019 dropped by one-third when compared with the years 2012-2015, TIS informed in a press release.

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