Thousands rally across Slovakia to protest the government’s plan

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Thousands returned to the streets of major cities across Slovakia on Tuesday to continue their protests against 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.

According to the proposal, those cases will now be taken over by prosecutors in regional offices, which haven’t dealt with such crimes for 20 years.

Michal Simecka, head of the liberal Progressive Slovakia, the strongest opposition party, said the changes “would result in amnesty for mafia and corrupt people.”