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Miklos to File Criminal Complaint Against Harabin
Thursday 12 August 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, August 12 (TASR) - Finance Minister Ivan Miklos told journalists on Thursday that he has already signed the documents imposing fines on the Supreme Court and its chairman Stefan Harabin for blocking audits. The fines have been set at €33,000 (the Court) and €1,000 (Harabin).
At the same time, the ministry will file a criminal complaint against Harabin for obstructing the audits. Miklos said that the complaint will be filed with both the Prosecutor-General's Office and the Police Corps Presidium in the next few days.
According to Miklos, several lawyers have concurred that the ministry has the power and the duty to audit the Supreme Court. "The only lawyer saying otherwise is Stefan Harabin," said the minister, adding that correspondence between Supreme Court administrative director Jan Urban and a journalist proves that the ministry and the Supreme Audit Office (NKU) are the only authorities with the power to launch audits at the Supreme Court. Urban said so in an email he sent to the reporter.
Harabin has been refusing to allow Finance Ministry officials to audit the Court's accounts for nearly two weeks, arguing in writing to the ministry that the only body with the power to audit the Supreme Court is NKU, as the Court uses funds approved in Parliament. Four attempts to carry out audits have been thwarted to date.
Miklos said that checking on public spending is within the purview of his ministry, and not even the Supreme Court can choose whether the Supreme Audit Office or Finance Ministry should carry out audits. The ministry conducted similar audits at the Supreme Court in 2007 and 2009.
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