The General Prosecutor's Office has cancelled the charges against prosecutor Vasiľ Špirko of the Special Prosecutor's office, said the General Prosecutor Jaromír Čižnár on Wednesday. As Čižnár explained, the decision to raise these charges was premature, as the accusations were not sufficiently justified. The prosecution has been stopped, however, Čižnár does not rule out the option that it could continue in future. "Mr. Špriko can resume doing his job as before," said the General Prosecuter. Špirko was originally in charge of investigations into the tax fraud suspect Ladislav Bašternák, who rents a flat to Prime Minister Robert Fico and is an alleged business partner of Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák. After the accusation, Špirko was taken of all cases and police confiscated his work computer with all his files. The Opposition claimed the prosecution was purpose-built.
The police investigated Špirko for leading informal talks in place of formal communication with tax fraudster Ľuboš Varga in another tax fraud case regarding procurement at the Finance Ministry and with Euro Funds in July. As the Sme daily wrote, subsequently and allegedly, Špirko tried to force Varga to file a criminal complaint, thus aiming to gain evidence of serious illegal activities.
After commencing the prosecution against Špirko, several lawyers spoke in his defence. "It is clear that the act was based solely on a criminal complaint filed by the sentenced tax fraudster Ľuboš Varga and his attorney. They did not start prosecutions in the case, however, fired off an accusation against the prosecutor. The National Criminal Agency has more trust in a sentenced tax fraudster than in an elite prosecutor," said Daniel Lipšic, MP of the opposition party Ordinary People. "The whole case including these steps deepens the mistrust in institutions - the Interior Ministry, the police, the prosecution - and that is why I perceive it very negatively and with concern," said the Justice Minister Lucia Žitňanská for the Denník N daily this week.
