Slovakian president blasts Fico's justice reform plans

Slovakian President Zuzana Čaputová has criticized plans that the new government in Bratislava has to make some changes to the justice system.
In a letter to the Minister of Justice, the European Commission has also called for the plans to be reconsidered, Čaputová said in a public statement on Friday.
The president voiced her concerns after the fairly new three-party coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday passed a bill in cabinet to close the country's special corruption prosecutor's office because it was too "politicized."
The special prosecution deals with high-level corruption cases and is responsible for organized crime and political crimes.
The fact that the government wants to reduce the penalties for corruption offences, to bring them into line with the legal systems of other EU countries, could raise doubts as to whether Slovakia imposes sufficiently deterrent penalties for the misuse of EU funds, she said.
The opposition warned of a threat to the rule of law and accused the government of trying to cover up high-level corruption cases from previous governments led by Fico's Direction-Social Democracy party, up to 2020.
Čaputová has said that should parliament approve the government's plans, she could veto them with a suspensive effect.
Thursday evening, thousands of people demonstrated in front of the government offices in Bratislava. The protest, which was organized by the opposition parties, was against the planned abolition of the special prosecutor's office.