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Police Trade Union: Our Support for Kalinak Is Voluntary
Thursday 28 January 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, January 28 (TASR) - Slovak police trade unions reject any suspicions that they are being manipulated by Interior Minister Robert Kalinak (a Smer-SD nominee) into organising a supportive rally on Friday during a parliamentary no-confidence vote in him, said police trade union vice-chair Marian Magdosko at a press conference on Thursday.
"This is our voluntary decision, made of our own free will," said Magdosko in reaction to statements by SDKU-DS Vice-chair Milan Hort. Magdosko added that the rally won't affect security in any way, as all the police officers concerned plan to attend in their free time. "Don't push us and don't label us supporters of Mr. Kalinak and the Smer-SD party. We support him as our superior, as a minister who has done a lot of good for the Interior Ministry," said Magdosko.
"There's no list of police officers who are refusing to take part in the rally. We cautioned all the participants that their presence is strictly voluntary," said police trade union chairman Miroslav Litva. The opposition SDKU-DS party has claimed that such a list exists.
SDKU MP Milan Hort said at a press conference on Thursday that Kalinak has secured the presence of police union members at Friday's rally. By way of evidence, he read from a letter drawn up by police trade unions, which he claims has been placed on all notice-boards at district departments of the Police Corps. According to Hort, this is an effort to politicise the Slovak Police Corps unprecedented in the period since 1989.
"We appreciate police work in its day-to-day assignments. We'll also come to the defence of all honourable police officers, who form the overwhelming majority. We believe, though, that the Interior Minister is yet again showing his cowardly behaviour," added SDKU MP Martin Fedor, who also appeared at the press conference.
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