Slovak Prosecutor overturns charges against Peter Kotlár

The General Prosecutor's Office of the Slovak Republic has overturned charges against Peter Kotlár, the government commissioner for pandemic resource management, regarding the alleged spreading of false information. The decision follows a complaint and mandates that investigators re-examine the case based on the prosecutor's legal findings.

The prosecution identified significant procedural and material flaws in the original investigation. A primary issue cited was the use of a report from the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the State Institute for Drug Control, which was publicized in August 2025, to justify the criminal relevance of statements made by Kotlár throughout 2024 and early 2025. The prosecutor noted that it is logically impossible to use a document to prove knowledge of something that did not exist at the time the statements were made.

Furthermore, the General Prosecutor's Office criticized the investigation for failing to distinguish between factual claims and political rhetoric. The office stated that the original indictment contained a “mix of factual statements and evaluative judgments or political statements,” which led to an unlawful expansion of the criminal prosecution. The investigation is now required to act in accordance with these legal corrections.