The European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on Thursday agreed to carry out another hearing by the Democracy, Rule of Law, Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group (DRFMG) in December, with the session set to deal with leaked surveillance footage from a hunting cabin in Slovakia and the country’s reforms that are supposed to restore the public trust in the rule of law.
The hearing was proposed by Slovak MEP Vladimir Bilcik. “We’ll inquire into leaks from the investigation as well as disciplinary proceedings at the Slovak Bar Association, as not only does the released footage feature lawyers who are behaving inappropriately, the video also raises serious questions about the legality of their conduct,” explained Bilcik.
The committee aims to invite representatives of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, Slovak Bar Association and Interior Ministry to the hearing.
The EP has long been monitoring the situation regarding the rule of law and justice in Slovakia. The DRFMG was set up after the murders of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova in order to keep tabs on the state of the rule of law, justice and free media in Slovakia. The monitoring group’s most recent visit to Slovakia took place in September.
Earlier this week, several Slovak media outlets released a leaked surveillance video that captured discussions between Smer-SD chair Robert Fico, former interior minister Robert Kalinak, attorney Marek Para, son of former police chief Tibor Gaspar and entrepreneur Miroslav Bodor. In the video, Kalinak seems to be receiving counsel on how to testify as a witness in a high-profile corruption case, including from Para - the lawyer of the charged ex-police chief.
