A Rotten Judiciary

Through sly machinations, the mečiarists made sure after regaining power during the 2006-2010 Fico-coalition, that Štefan Harabin, though highly controversial, initially became the minister of justice, in which role he cleverly nominated loyal key figures onto posts within the judiciary, then to have himself being nominated as a candidate for the presidency of the Supreme Court - and obviously getting the post. (A nomination primarily legally not valid, since Mr Harabin was not a judge at the time of his nomination; detail that seemed totally irrelevant to president Gašparovič, who immediately affirmed Harabin's new appointment within a matter of hours. The motives are self-evident.

While visibly critical judges were confronted with ridiculous disciplinary measures - or even being stripped of their duties - one can only conclude that all those involved bear the responsibility of having corrupted and politicised the judicial system, a trend which is inadmissible for a EU democratic country. Yet, it is a fact. Sadly enough.

Slovakia's new coalition, faced with a gigantic task to repair the damage caused by Fico, has hardly possible legal tools to mend this and there seems no simple way out. The Supreme Court suddenly refuses audits from the Finance Ministry - calling them a breach of independence of the judiciary (but oddly enough in 2009, Mr Harabin was very happy to welcome the very same audit under minister Pačiatok. A year can make a dramatic difference). 

For months Harabin is rebutting audits - based as mentioned on contradictory arguments - which may confirm certain suspicion about the improper dealings. Yesterday Justice Minister Žitňanská finally filed a disciplinary action against Harabin, which as a political signal is perhaps good, yet the end-result will remain ineffective, as the judges dealing with this delicate matter are more than on friendly terms with the person involved. 

This illustrates in which stale-mate Slovakia currently finds itself - the legal framework is either too weak, excellently applied to accommodate those who tend to abuse it. The little skirmishes between Ms Žitňanská and Harabin are like temporary one-off needle pricks, without any significant end result. The only signal which perhaps could turn events would be a massive popular protest, which is sadly enough totally absent. 

Slovakia can pride itself of being a nation of collective apathy, and though it might be nasty to say; - as once defined by a friend "being observant to clero-fascist trends". This is blocking many democratisation processes, and without strong help from outside, hardly any significant improvement is to be expected. 

A reason to shrug one's shoulders? Would you be indifferent, if such trends obstruct overall business (economy)? But being part of the EU, this damage will cost the EU citizen - even when living in distant Workum, Paisley or Annecy - extra tax money. The price of being indifferent.

A worn-out Velvet Revolution

Today, on this very day 21 years ago, a smooth democratisation process started to turn around a country, which gently shook off the yoke of totalitarian communism. The then enthusiastic atmosphere that could be sensed has over the years faded. Czechoslovakia, after briefly becoming a Czech and Slovak federal state split up and the differences between the two brother-nations became apparent.

Last week, another slap in the face of democracy occurred, when a prominent lawyer was assassinated. The motive is still unclear, yet a few facts and the timing appear unpleasantly coincidental. It shows in a brutal way, how frail democracy is and that advocating a more open and just society is not fully without risk.

What lingers in the back of one's mind is the fact, that the highly criticised General Prosecutor Trnka, who has more than visibly hindered several cases that could be harmful to the previous Fico government, suddenly seems no objection to Mr Dzurinda - now being the foreign minister, yet the political head of the christian-democratic SDKU coalition leader.One may believe or not in so called conspiracy theories, the signals after deducing all facts are more than obvious, and perhaps too obvious, so that they become almost absurdistically improbable; realising that even the new politics (after the Fico years) have perhaps from within no intent to change for the better.

The only clear message, one can learn from this, is that after the so gentle Velvet Revolution, Slovak society is still caught in a Balkan-type power-play. The velvet wears out over time. But the question is, whether it wasn't too gentle to befit the society. Shrugging shoulders, assuming it has always been that way, is not a way to deal with this cancerous evil. The only way is to have it removed - even if painful - to avoid further long term damage. The problem is the lack of proper tools.