Defence Minister Martin Glváč could face a motion of no confidence in parliament over the case of alleged tunnelling in the Military Intelligence Service (VSS) during the first government of Robert Fico (2006-10). Independent MP Daniel Lipšic said he and his colleague, Jana Žitňanská, will support Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MP Ľubomír Galko’s initiative for a no-confidence vote against Glváč, the SITA newswire reported on July 5.
Lipšic said they will support the proposal because the current ruling government intimidates anybody who tries to point out its mistakes.
“It started with the sanctions for those who investigated the Gorilla case, continued with blackmailing, intimidating journalist [Martina Tvardzíková] Ruttkayová, and continues with the threat of criminal prosecution of journalist [Tom] Nicholson,” Lipšic said, as quoted by SITA, adding that if the government will try to intimidate journalists in this way, no free person will be sure of his or her security in this country.
Lipšic was pointing to several recent cases related to alleged embezzlement in the VSS which involved journalists. Tvardzíková Ruttkayová described at the end of June her police interrogation, over which she plans to file a complaint, while Nicholson said on July 4 that he was contacted by the National Criminal Agency, requesting that he go to the police for questioning over what Nicholson described as an issue of “revealing state secrets” in association with his blogs.
SaS welcomed Lipšic’s decision, with Galko saying that he might collect the necessary number of signatures on July 8, SITA reported.
Meanwhile, the TA3 news channel reported that Glváč lifted the vow of confidentiality for eight former and current intelligence service agents after he had received a request from the National Criminal Agency. He did not specify whether these people include the alleged author of the report on the embezzlement, Vladimír Suchodolinský.
TA3 also reported that the Security Council of Slovakia will meet to discuss the case of alleged embezzlement, and that former VSS head Roman Mikulec did not succeed with his complaint over charges he faces for breaching confidential information, imposed at the end of June, as reported by SITA.
Source: SITA, TA3
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
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