Parliament did not accept President Andrej Kiska's changes to the package of anti-terrorist laws. The president indicated that the amendments to the Criminal Code and other bodies of law violate the principle of proportionality.
The anti-terror package was drawn up in dispatch in response to the series of attacks in Paris on November 13. As part of the package, police, prosecutor's offices, courts and intelligence services will receive new powers in the fight against terrorism as of January. Jail sentences for those convicted of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act are being extended. Most of the changes were introduced into the Code of Criminal Procedures. Parliament gave courts the authority to remand in custody a person charged with a criminal offence linked to terrorism - without formally stipulating the reason for doing so. Those suspected of terrorism may in justified cases be placed in custody for as many as five years. Cases involving terrorism will be tried by the Specialised Criminal Court.
The powers of the Police Corps, the Slovak Intelligence Service and the Military Intelligence Service are being extended, too. The police will have the authority to detain a person suspected of being in any way affiliated with plans to commit an act of terrorism for up to 48 hours. Police officers also received more powers in road checks and car inspections and also web content will be subject to more stringent oversight. Website operators and web domain providers will be obligated to shut down or prevent access to a web domain name where ideas encouraging or promoting terrorism, or extremism of a religious, political or other nature, are being spread.
The Government-sponsored Criminal Code amendment containing measures from the anti-terrorist package is turning Slovakia into a police state, several Opposition MPs stated in Parliament on Monday. A hundred known personalities were urging President Andrej Kiska not to sign into law the package of anti-terrorism measures last week. According to the appeal, it's unacceptable that the impingement on fundamental freedoms and the boosting of powers of law enforcement bodies should have been decided without the involvement of the public and in a fast-track legislative procedure.
Meanwhile, the Slovak Academy of Sciences published the result of a survey on a sample of 1,004 respondents. It shows that as many as 70 percent of Slovaks are significantly afraid of the arrival of refugees in Europe. According to the respondents, the most important reasons for fearing refugees are increases in crime and in the danger of attacks by Muslim extremists, with around four out of ten respondents stating both of these reasons. Fears concerning the failure to adapt and costs relating to accepting migrants were mentioned less often.
