Via a resolution that garnered 129 votes from the 144 MPs present on Wednesday, Parliament revoked the amnesties issued by Vladimír Mečiar as acting president as well as the pardon granted by former president Michal Kováč to his own son. The vote was observed in person by a number of Government ministers headed by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD). The resolution received support from MPs present from the coalition as well as from opposition parties, with the exception of the far-right Kotleba - People's Party Our Slovakia, which did not take part in the vote.
The text of the approved document states that Slovak society has long been disturbed by Vladimír Mečiar's amnesties and Michal Kováč's pardon for his own son. Therefore, Parliament opted to override these decisions out of the conviction that "respect for basic human rights and freedoms is an inalienable part of the rule of law, while respecting the principle that amnesties cannot be bestowed on representatives of state power and individuals acting in their name and/or in collusion with them".
The resolution approved by the House under last week's amendment to the Constitution will be further evaluated within 60 days by the Constitutional Court, which will be tasked with either confirming or rejecting Parliament's decision. If the court fails to reach a verdict within the set deadline, the House's decision will stand.
Mečiar's amnesties relate to the 1995 kidnapping of then President Michal Kováč's son Michal Kováč Jr. and the murder in 1996 of Robert Remiáš, who served as a contact for a key witness of the abduction. The amnesties issued by Mečiar as acting president in 1998 also concern a thwarted referendum of 1997.
