Čistý Deň facility in Galanta (source: SITA)
The Labour Ministry has permanently revoked the accreditation of the Čistý Deň (Clear Day) resocialisation centre in Galanta (Trnava Region), the TVnoviny.sk reported.
“To make the decision valid, it is necessary to deliver it,” Daniela Rodinová of the ministry’s press department said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. This means that the centre should either accept it or apply the delivery fiction in 18 days.
Though Čistý Deň has 15 days to appeal the verdict, the motion will be assessed by Labour Minister Ján Richter (Smer). He does not see a reason for changing the decision on removing the accreditation, TASR wrote.
The decision came late
The opposition Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) has welcomed the decision, but claimed that it came too late.
“It was proven that Minister Richter doesn’t protect children, but institutions,” said Anna Verešová, chair of the parliamentary human rights and national minorities committee, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
Nothing, not even the clear opinions of experts, has opened Richter’s and Prime Minister Robert Fico’s eyes for more than one year, said OĽaNO MP Soňa Gaborčáková.
“By removing the accreditation, Minister Richter has confirmed he should not be at his post as he bears the biggest responsibility for the whole case,” Gaborčáková added, as quoted by SITA.
The Labour Ministry explained the whole proceeding took so long because 28 people got involved, including the facility’s clients, their family members, and employees, as reported by SITA.
The Čistý Deň scandal
The case has been making headlines since Natália Blahová, an opposition MP for Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), wrote a blog in September 2016 highlighting the sexual abuse of Natália, a minor in state care. She claims that a therapist at the resocialisation centre Čistý deň in Galanta had sex with Natália against her will in October 2014. Sex involving children under 15 is unlawful, even if it is consensual.
The suspicions have been investigated by the ministry, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the police. Despite the recommendation of the Labour Ministry’s accreditation committee, the ministry refused to scrap the accreditation, which resulted in a no-confidence vote against Richter, initiated by the opposition.
The ministry finally decided to revoke accreditation last August. It referred to the confirmation of the police that laid charges against the centre’s former employee in a renewed proceeding, SITA reported.
However, the clients’ parents claimed that this deed is no reason for removing the accreditation.
