BRATISLAVA, March 31, (WEBNOVINY) – Interior Minister Daniel Lipsic is going to file a civil lawsuit against MP for the opposition SNS and ex-Construction Minister Igor Stefanov over his statements that 40 MPs have been wiretapped with the consent of the interior minister.
Though he is reasonably suspicious of committing a crime MP Stefanov is not entitled to say anything he thinks it is suitable to say, said Lipsic on Thursday. The minister attended the session of the Parliamentary Constitutional and Judicial Committee, which dealt with the announced suspicions of eavesdropping on members of parliament. “He will get a chance to prove it in court,” stated Lipsic. Lipsic remarked that he has a lot of work at the department but he promised that Stefanov would live up to the lawsuit against him. “If Deputy Stefanov thinks that he can tell whatever to media at a news conference only because he is to be criminally prosecuted, he is mistaken,” concluded Lipsic.
Earlier this month, Stefanov accused Lipsic of consenting to the wiretapping of 40 MPs from the opposition and coalition camps and several journalists. “Lipsic is trying to consolidate power. He is exerting pressure on everyone who disagrees with him,” stated Stefanov at a press conference. The accusation came after Lipsic informed that the prosecution would ask the parliament to vote on stripping Stefanov’s deputy immunity in order to enable charging him in the so-called bulletin-board tender case.
Opposition deputies of the Parliamentary Constitutional and Judicial Committee for SMER-SD demanded an explanation from Minister Lipsic as to whether wiretapping of politicians executed by the Interior Ministry is not politically abuse. “I can rule it out,” answered Lipsic, who ordered a check at the department of special police activities in January. The audit, however, detected nothing. “I can guarantee that all wiretapping executed by the Interior Ministry is executed lawfully based on a judge’s decision,” stated the minister. However, the debate in the committee was fierce, and Miroslav Ciz of SMER-SD even walked out off the sitting. “It is a tragedy that you are the minister in this era,” said Ciz. Lipsic stated that suspicions of deputy eavesdropping are only hearsay, which the Interior Ministry is not going to turn down, and added that the whole debate is a bit phantom-like. Lipsic said that the police have their hands free and can use means of criminal procedure with the necessary consent. According to Ciz, Lipsic downplayed the matter, causing the public’s concerns.
Opposition members of the committee proposed that the prosecutor check with police and the SIS intelligence service, which could scrutinize the lawfulness of executed wiretapping and registration of wiretapping at regional courts. However, the committee failed to pass these proposals.
SITA