The scandal surrounding the non-profit company Privilégium, which emerged under the first government of Robert Fico (2006-10), will disappear from the criminal records thanks to the recent presidential amnesty. [A total of 753 prisoners have been released from jail after President Ivan Gašparovič granted presidential amnesties to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of an independent Slovak Republic.]
The Hospodárske noviny daily wrote in its Tuesday, January 8 issue that the head of Privilégium, Štepánka Mádlová, was sentenced to a two year conditioned imprisonment for committing fraud pertaining to subsidies from the Labour Ministry, which was at that time led by Viera Tomanová (Smer). When asking for a subsidy, Mádlová did not disclose Privilégium’s tax arrears.
Though the President's Office initially said that the amnesties will pertain only to conditioned punishments with lengths not exceeding 18 months, the final version that appeared in the collection of laws stated that all conditioned punishments will be pardoned, regardless of their length. The President’s spokesman Marek Trubač said that the amnesty was stiupulated in such a way so as not to include bigger and more serious cases.
(Source: Hospodárske noviny)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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