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Fico Files Criminal Complaint Over Smer Funding Recording
Thursday 10 June 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, June 10 (TASR) - Prime Minister and Smer-SD party chairman Robert Fico on Thursday filed a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor-General's Office over a voice recording that allegedly attests to Smer's illicit funding, TASR learnt when Fico left the Prosecutor General's Office on the same day.
Fico was referring to a voice recording that allegedly features Fico talking about using tens of millions of crowns in Smer's election campaign outside the party's official accounting.
"I've submitted a criminal complaint because what SME daily published today (Thursday) is a complete fake and an attempt to scandalise the Government, the Prime Minister and the Smer-SD party at any rate. You've got to have a nerve to publish such a fake 48 hours prior to the election," said the premier.
Fico added that he has filed the criminal complaint against the person who made and sent the recording and against the editorial staff at SME who decided to go public with this recording without having its authenticity checked and without his comments.
Opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) vice-chairman Daniel Lipsic is co-ordinating his moves with SME daily, claimed the premier. "This is because Mr. Lipsic delivered the forged recording to the Prosecutor-General (Dobroslav Trnka) before this recording was uploaded on SME daily's website," stated Fico.
Trnka has declined to comment on the matter as yet.
Lipsic said in a parliamentary debate earlier on Thursday that he had e-mailed the recording to the Prosecutor-General's Office on Thursday to supplement a criminal complaint that KDH filed with the Office over Smer's funding on May 20.
According to SME, Fico boasted in the recording that he had got hold of Sk75 million (€2.49 million) by his own merits. The 65-second recording is said to go back to the run-up to the 2002 parliamentary elections.
"I can only say that I've got hold of, and I hope nobody's listening, 35 million for this year, some 40 million for next year, plus some other things as well," Fico allegedly said on the recording. According to official records, the party received only close to Sk5 million (€165,000) in sponsor funds in 2001 and 2002.
"As regards (the Party of the Democratic Left) SDL, Smer-SD's general manager is filing a complaint, as it's unacceptable that somebody should send out letters with my scanned signature. The letter is such nonsense in prompting people to vote for SDL representatives," added Fico.
SDL's letter, which looks as though it was written by Fico, has been sent out across Slovakia in thousands of copies. "If you care about preserving the humane policy of the Smer-SD party, help us to get SDL into Parliament," the premier quoted from the letter, while expressing outrage at "utter vulturism never seen here before".
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