Robert Fico (source: TASR)
Smer chair and former three-time prime minister Robert Fico is facing a criminal complaint for publishing a video depicting the transport of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile defence system to Ukraine.
Fico published the video on his Facebook on the evening of April 7, i.e. a day before the Slovak media reported on the decision of the Slovak government to give the S-300 system to Ukraine, and the official state representatives officially confirmed it.
“I demand that Eduard Heger immediately confirm or deny the preparation of handing the S-300 air defence system to Ukraine,” Fico wrote, adding that he had been receiving information on military technology manoeuvres from the border with Ukraine the entire day. He also called the decision “clear madness.”
Ján Benčík, MP for the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, now submitted a criminal complaint against the Smer chair, saying that he might have committed the crime of espionage and threat towards classified information, or a threat towards confidential information.
In his opinion, Fico might have threatened the lives of soldiers and the railwayman who assisted in the transport since he published the video before the transport was officially announced, as reported by the TASR newswire.
In this respect, Benčík referred to a recent declaration of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, that any such deliveries provided to Ukraine would become a legitimate target of Russia.
Meanwhile, Slovak PM Eduard Heger (OĽaNO) has criticised Fico as well. He cited the fact that Fico slammed the delivery from a luxurious hotel abroad, and that he threatened the transport of the system by publishing video footage.
“He’s a cynic and Russian traitor,” he said during a talk show broadcast by the private Radio Expres station on April 11.
