FILE PHOTO: SMER-SSD party leader Robert Fico attends a press conference after the country's early parliamentary elections, in Bratislava, Slovakia, October 1, 2023. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa/File Photo
(Reuters) - Slovakia's new government led by political veteran Robert Fico approved a plan on Wednesday to scrap a special prosecutor's office focused on crimes including corruption, sparking opposition cries of foul play.
President Zuzana Caputova has criticised the plan as a "step backwards", and it will be closely watched in Brussels for any potential damage to rule of law - an issue that has pitted neighbours Poland and Hungary against the European Union.
The special prosecution unit has operated since 2004.
It has gone after dozens of cases involving graft in police, judiciary and politics since 2021 while under the leadership of Daniel Lipsic, who served as interior minister in a government that took power from Fico between 2010 and 2012.
The proposal on the government's website said Fico's cabinet was proposing to shut down the unit, the USP, in a rapid legislative process that could be completed in weeks. Live cases would be transferred to other prosecutors' offices.
"The activities of the Office of the Special Prosecutor in recent years has sparked an unprecedented public response and is often perceived by parts of the professional public as political and carrying elements of arbitrariness," an accompanying document said.
Fico, who was forced to resign by mass protests in 2018 after the murder of a journalist investigating corruption, has long called the USP politically bent against his SMER party and has spoken in favour of getting Lipsic out. The USP also oversaw the murder investigation.
Among cases overseen by the USP is that of central bank governor and former SMER finance minister Peter Kazimir who has been on trial for alleged bribery, which he denies.
While in opposition, Fico himself had faced police charges, later dropped, that he used information from police and tax authorities to discredit political rivals. He said at the time it was political revenge.
Since winning the election on Sept. 30, he has repeatedly said he will act in a way acceptable to the European Commission to avoid threatening the country's access to EU funds - avoiding punishment that Hungary and Poland have faced over damaging democratic checks and balances.
The main opposition party, Progressive Slovakia - which was not in the previous government - said it was "sharply rejecting" the proposal.
"We will stand up to this sternly - in parliament, in the public space, in the European Union," party chief Michal Simecka said in a statement.
Following the 2020 election victory of parties promising to weed out graft, a number of cases were opened against business leaders, judicial and police officers.
According to Slovak media, 40 people have been sentenced in the sweep and another 130 are being investigated or tried.
(This story has been refiled to fix the typo in headline)
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague; Editing by Alison Williams)
