PS Caucus Appeals to Constitutional Court Regarding Lex Assassination Attempt

Bratislava, December 10 (TASR) - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party has turned to the Constitutional Court regarding the Lex Assassination Attempt, arguing that the legislation restricts the right to assemble, interferes with freedom of expression and shouldn't have been dealt with via a fast-track procedure, MPs Lucia Plavakova (PS) and Zuzana Stevulova (PS) announced at a press conference on Tuesday. The Lex Assassination Attempt, a package of measures to improve the security situation in Slovakia following the assassination attempt on Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) in May of this year, was approved by MPs in June. It was discussed via a fast-tracked legislative procedure and introduced new grounds for banning assemblies. At the same time, it granted the highest constitutional officials the right to life-long salaries and the right to "reasonably equipped real estate". "We also object to the fast-tracked legislative procedure, which was defended as a reaction to the attempted assassination of Premier Robert Fico, but the adopted amendment regulates legal norms that have absolutely nothing to do with this, whether it concerns a life-long salary for the prime minister or restrictions on assemblies in general. At the same time, we object to the fact that individually adopted amendments are inconsistent with the Slovak Constitution – [including] a general restriction of the right to assembly in certain places, and a blanket discarding of the state's obligation to protect peaceful assemblies from counter-demonstrations," stated Plavakova. Stevulova compared the Lex Assassination Attempt to a dangerous tool. "Its broad powers allow this governing coalition, in the worst-case scenario, to make it impossible for a protest to take place, and so we have every reason to believe that the Lex Assassination Attempt could simply pave the way for possible restrictions on any critical protests in practice," she stated. lin/df