Demonstrators take part in a protest against the government's proposal to cancel a branch of prosecution which the opposition says will let serious economic crimes remain unpunished and protect government figures, in Bratislava, Slovakia, February 1, 2024. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa
BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people attended rallies across Slovakia on Thursday against plans by Prime Minister Robert Fico's government to scrap the office that probes high-profile financial crimes, including cases close to the premier.
Chanting "Enough of Fico" and holding signs saying "Hands Off Our Democracy," protesters filled Bratislava's main square. Similar demonstrations took place across the country and were some of the biggest seen since near-weekly rallies began in early December against the government reforms, which include shutting the Special Prosecution Office.
Media outlet Dennik N estimated the rally in Bratislava attracted 30,000 people.
"The situation is slowly changing and they are starting to listen to you more in parliament," Jozef Hajko, a lawmaker from the opposition KDH party, told the crowd. "They feel your power. Please, persevere with us and continue this way."
Fico's leftist government says its planned reforms - which would also limit protection for whistleblowers and reduce sentences for financial crimes - are necessary to end what it calls excesses at the Special Prosecution Office when Fico was in opposition.
The government is seeking to fast-track the reforms. This would shorten debate and could allow a vote next week on the plan that has raised warnings from the European Union and United States.
Slovakia's President Zuzana Caputova has said the reforms put EU funds at risk -- a notion Fico rejects -- and has described the efforts to speed through the changes as unprecedented.
Fico won an election last September after resigning in 2018 amid mass street protests that followed the murder of a journalist investigating public corruption.
The prosecutor's office opened a number of cases against business leaders, members of the judiciary and police following a 2020 election victory by parties promising to fight graft. While in opposition, Fico himself faced police charges which were later dropped.
His government has not made clear which authorities would handle financial crimes once the Special Prosecution Office is scrapped.
(Reporting by Radovan Stoklasa in Bratislava, Writing by Michael Kahn, Editing by Susan Fenton)
