Thousands rally across Slovakia to protest the government’s plan to amend the penal code

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Thousands have returned after a week to the streets in a dozen of major cities across Slovakia to keep protesting a plan by the new government of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico to amend the country’s penal code. The changes proposed by the coalition government include a proposal to abolish the special prosecutors’ office, which handles serious crimes such as graft, organized crime and extremism by mid-January. The cases involving politicians and businesspeople linked to Fico will be taken over by prosecutors in regional offices, which haven’t dealt with such crimes for 20 years. Protesters are also demanding Fico’s resignation.