The Specialised Criminal Court reported on Wednesday that it had found Slovakia's central bank governor Peter Kazimir guilty of bribery, fining him €100,000. The court at the same time imposed a suspended sentence of two years should the governor fail to pay the fine. Appeals against the decision can be filed within eight days of the announcement of the verdict.
Peter Kazimir should consider resigning from his post, President Zuzana Caputova said in response to the decision. "After today, after the court's decision, which is not final, but it is a decision about his guilt in the given deed, I think he should consider his resignation," said the president. Caputova stressed that if Kazimir remains in the post it may also affect the trustworthiness of the institution both inside the country and outside. She underlined that the official reason for his removal from office is the final decision of the court.
Interim Prime Minister Eduard Heger has also called on Slovak central bank governor Peter Kazimir to resign. Pointing to Kazimir's political past in Smer-SD, Heger stressed that the system of corruption and bribery in the country was built by this political party.
Slovakia's central bank governor Peter Kazimir has not yet received the criminal order, according to which he is guilty of corruption and must pay a fine of €100,000, TASR learnt on Thursday. Kazimir responded to the published information about the sentence that has not yet come into force by saying that he is innocent and has no doubt that he will defend himself at the main hearing. "Despite the criminal verdict, which hasn't even been delivered to me yet, I'm innocent. I haven't committed any crime and I have no doubt that I'll defend myself before the judge at the main trial or before the appeal courts in Slovakia or Europe," said Kazimir, noting that he believes in the presumption of innocence because he has not committed any criminal activity. He added that he would not respond to political statements in the election campaign.
Several political parties have already called on Kazimir to resign from his post because according to them, a trustworthy person must be at the Slovakia’s central bank’s helm. On the contrary, the opposition Smer-SD party defended its former member, saying that Kazimir is a typical victim of the abuse of criminal law for political purposes.
This is the second time that the governor has been charged with bribery. The original charges were previously dropped by the Prosecutor-General's Office in June last year. Peter Kazimir was charged again last autumn, with the prosecutor in the case filing the indictment in February.
Source: TASR
