The parliamentary committee that oversees the work of the Military Defense Intelligence (VOS) under the jurisdiction of Slovakia’s Defence Ministry heard testimony from Defence Minister Ľubomír Galko on Tuesday morning, November 22, a day after the alleged wiretapping of journalists from the Pravda daily and the head of the news channel TA3 was reported by two Slovak dailies, the SITA newswire wrote.
Galko said that he understands the annoyance and bad feelings of the affected journalists but added, “On the other hand, when there is a suspicion of a crime, I personally believe that there is no difference between politicians, ordinary people and journalists,” he stated after leaving the extraordinary session of the committee, as quoted by SITA.
He did not say whether he thought he was able to persuade the members of the committee.
“You might be yet surprised about how it will develop; however, I cannot anticipate (the outcome), all is in the hands of investigative bodies,” Galko stated, adding that nobody can stand above the law.
A member of the committee and former Defence Minister, Martin Fedor (from the Slovak Democratic and Christian union (SDKÚ)), said that Galko presented several pieces of information that helped him to compile the mosaic of what had happened but added that members of the committee do not have enough information that would confirm whether the wiretapping was lawful. The committee will continue its session.
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
