Supreme Court judge Štefan Harabin will hear the verdict on Friday (May 13) on whether or not his statements addressed to Supreme Court chair Daniela Švecová stepped over the line, as the senate presided over by Juraj Florovič postponed the disciplinary proceedings to later in the week. Harabin asked the senate to exonerate him. He considers the proposal for disciplinary proceedings against him, filed by Judicial Council chair Jana Bajánková, to be completely unsubstantiated.
If her proposal was to be accepted, Harabin demanded the psychiatric evaluation of the Supreme Court chair and the summoning of further witnesses. Harabin's speech before the senate was quite emotional, as he raised his voice, stomped his feet and finally broke into tears. After being repeatedly reprimanded for his behaviour, Harabin apologised to the senate, adding that he feels bullied. He likened himself to a raped woman, with the victim being prosecuted instead of the rapist. Harabin didn't spare choice words for the top representatives of the judiciary, repeatedly calling both Švecová and Bajánková "the juristitutes". As he later explained, he uses the term for judges who allow themselves to be controlled by politicians.
Before the senate, he declared that he fully stands behind his earlier statements, according to which the Supreme Court chair is "pitiful" and could "end up in a psychiatric hospital", insisting that she should also be joined there by Bajánková. "This is how low the judiciary has sunk. It's a tragedy that a former mob lawyer controls the (ministry of) interior and, via juristitute Švecová, also the Supreme Court. After all, she dismissed a senate at his request. Isn't she ripe for psychiatry (hospitalisation)? She is - because a judge would have never done this, only a juristitute", said Harabin about Švecová. He referred to Švecová's decision to reassign Harabin's senate members to different senates in the wake of controversial verdicts such as in the case of police officials convicted for corruption. These verdicts were also criticised by Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák.
