Slovakia’s prosecutor general’s office said on Monday it had indicted former justice minister and head of the Supreme Court Stefan Harabin over a Facebook post praising Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. .
The day after Russian troops entered Ukraine, February 24, 2022, S. Harabin wrote on Facebook that he “would have done exactly the same as (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.”
Zuzana Drobova, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office in neighboring country and Ukraine supporter Slovakia, told AFP that Mr Harabin had been accused of “insulting a nation, a race and a creed and support for a crime”. She declined to provide further details as the criminal investigation is still ongoing.
The daily Dennik N said Harabin faces three years in prison if found guilty. The newspaper quoted Harabin as saying on Monday he was “proud” of the statement and would be happy to repeat it because he believed Russia was acting in accordance with international law.
In a video interview posted on YouTube, Mr Harabin also said it was Russia’s duty “to eliminate all Ukrainian Nazis… who have killed 14,000 children, women and the elderly in Donbass since 2014. “.
In 2006-2009, the 66-year-old former communist worked as justice minister in populist Prime Minister Robert Fico’s first cabinet. During this period, he allegedly spoke on the phone to a mafia boss and fired seven regional court chiefs in two days without giving a reason.
A scathing critic of the EU, S. Harabin also served two terms as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and ran for President. In 2019, the current head of state Zuzana Čaputova won the elections.
He has been repeatedly criticized for sharing false information about migrants on Facebook and speaking out against EU sanctions against Russia.
Slovakia, 5.4 million The most populous EU country has provided Ukraine with significant humanitarian and military aid since the start of the Russian invasion.
Source: The Delfi
