Hundreds of Slovaks protest the new government’s plan to close prosecutors office for top crimes

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Hundreds of people have rallied in the Slovak capital against the new government’s plan to close the special prosecutors office that deals with major crimes, including high-profile murders, terrorism and graft. The protest in Bratislava on Thursday took place in front of the government building. The demonstrators — a crowd of about 2,000 — say the plan is a threat to the rule of law. The organizers from the opposition Progressive Slovakia, Christian Democrats and Freedom and Solidarity parties say the planned changes to the country’s penal code are designed to help people suspected of corruption who are close to the leftist Smer, or Direction, party of Prime Minister Robert Fico.