Slovak Parliament has rejected a government-backed amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code that would have changed the benefits available to cooperating defendants.
Only 75 of the 150 MPs present supported the legislation, while 74 voted against and one abstained. The entire opposition opposed the proposal, alongside independent MPs Roman Malatinec, Tomáš Taraba and Peter Slyško.
The Justice Ministry's amendment would have replaced certain existing benefits, including postponing criminal charges or suspending prosecution, with exceptional sentence reductions or the possibility of waiving punishment during court proceedings. It also proposed requiring cooperating defendants to provide complete and truthful testimony about criminal activity within 180 days. The ministry argued that the changes would strengthen the credibility of testimony and improve the consistency of judicial decisions.
Opposition parties welcomed the rejection as a political defeat for Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD). PS party leader Michal Šimečka said the result demonstrated that the government had lost its parliamentary majority, while representatives of SaS, KDH and other opposition parties renewed calls for early elections.
Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Tibor Gašpar (Smer-SD), however, claimed that the rejection represented a defeat for the rule of law. He argued that the amendment was intended to address alleged abuses involving cooperating defendants between 2020 and 2023 and referred to concerns raised in human rights proceedings. Gašpar also rejected opposition accusations that the proposed changes were designed to influence the Očistec corruption case, in which he is among the defendants.
Gašpar directed further criticism at independent MP Tomáš Taraba, questioning his loyalty to the governing coalition after he voted against the proposal. He suggested that Taraba was increasingly aligning himself with the opposition and warned that his actions could have political consequences.
Under parliamentary rules, legislation addressing the same issue cannot be resubmitted for at least six months.
Meanwhile, a separate Smer-SD proposal to abolish postal voting from abroad was dropped from parliament's agenda for a second time because its sponsors and designated rapporteur were absent. The amendment would replace postal voting with voting at Slovak diplomatic missions and extend voting from abroad to presidential elections.
Source: TASR, STVR
