Special Prosecutor Dušan Kováčik (source: SME)
Special Prosecutor Dušan Kováčik will not join the list of those resigning from their posts following the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, and the mass rallies organised in Slovakia and abroad, the Sme daily reported.
Kováčik is often criticised that the investigation of several politically sensitive cases have stalled during his tenure. His departure was one of the requirements voiced during the For a Decent Slovakia rallies.
Though he repeated his claim from last June that he plans to leave the post even before the official end of his tenure (in May 2021), he says that the time has not come.
“I don’t plan to do so in the following days,” his spokesperson Jana Tökölyová told Sme.
At the same time, Kováčik respects the people who support him, as well as those who are calling for his departure, she added.
Many cases stalled
Several non-governmental organisations, artists and students criticised the special prosecutor during the recent rallies, also for a disciplinary motion submitted against the prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, Vasiľ Špirko. Špirko told journalists about the corruption practices concerning ex-Smer ministers Robert Kaliňák and Ján Počiatek.
Špirko’s actions were called non-standard by both Kováčik and General Prosecutor Jaromír Čižnár, calling the press conference held in front of the Special Prosecutor’s Office “a garden party”, Sme reported.
Moreover, former justice minister Lucia Žitňanská (Most-Híd) expected Kováčik to resign, as she told Sme in late March. Her successor, Gábor Gál, says that the problem of the Special Prosecutor’s Office is not in Kováčik or other people.
However, it is obvious that the investigation of several cases are stalled under Kováčik’s supervision. This includes the Bašternák case, the investigation of a recording with a voice similar to Fico’s, and the Gorilla scandal. No one has been punished yet, Sme wrote.
