Parliament expected to cancel Mečiar’s Amnesties today

After months of public discussion, Slovakia's parliament will vote today on repealing the amnesties created in 1997 by then acting-president Vladimir Mečiar. The amnesties relate to all acts related to the 1995 abduction of Michal Kováč Jr. the son of the former president Michal Kováč. The creation of the amnesties effectively stopped all investigations into the abduction, as well as the murder of Robert Remiáš, a police officer connected to the investigation of the abduction. From here, the Constitutional Court would have up to 60 days to either confirm or reject the decision of Parliament, should Parliament vote to scrap the amnesties, as is expected. The scrapping of the amnesties would probably result in the reopening of the investigation into the abduction, however it is uncertain whether it would result in prison sentences for what happened almost 20 years ago. If renewed investigations result in individuals being charged, jail sentences for those involved could range between 15-25 years in prison, or life sentences. A parliamentary decision is expected at around 17:00 today (April 5).