Štefan Harabin

Štefan Harabin (born 4 May 1957) is a former[1] Slovak judge and politician. He served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Slovakia for two terms (1998–2003 and 2009–2014) and Minister of Justice from 2006 to 2009. In 2019 he ran unsuccessfully for President of Slovakia.

Štefan Harabin
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Slovakia
In office
23 June 2009 – 23 June 2014
Preceded byMilan Karabín
Succeeded byDaniela Švecová
In office
11 February 1998 – 11 February 2003
Preceded byMilan Karabín
Succeeded byMilan Karabín
Minister of Justice of Slovakia
In office
4 July 2006 – 23 June 2009
Prime MinisterRobert Fico
Preceded byLucia Žitňanská
Succeeded byViera Petríková
Personal details
Born (1957-05-04) 4 May 1957
Ľubica, Czechoslovakia
Political partyHomeland (2019–)
Other political
affiliations		ĽS-HZDS (2006–2009; affiliated, but not a formal member)

Judicial and political career

Harabin graduated from the Faculty of Law, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University Košice. He started his judicial career as a probationary judge at the Košice regional court in 1980. Three years later, he became a professional judge at the Poprad district court. Harabin was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia until the Velvet Revolution of 1989. After the revolution, he continued to practice as a judge at the Košice regional court, until he was elected to the Supreme Court of Slovakia in 1991.

From 1998 to 2003, he was the chief justice of the Supreme Court and, in addition, president of the Judicial Council of Slovakia created in 2001. He served as minister of justice and deputy prime minister in Robert Fico's first cabinet from 4 July 2006 to 23 June 2009.[2] He was nominated by the right-wing People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (ĽS-HZDS), but was not formally a member of that party. Subsequently, he returned to his post of chief justice, serving until June 2014.

2019 Slovak presidential campaign

Harabin ran as a non-partisan candidate in the 2019 Slovak presidential election. While nominally independent, he was endorsed by the extraparliamentary Christian Democracy – Life and Prosperity party. He ran on a platform of "traditional Slovak culture based on Christianity and family, formed by a man–father and woman–mother" and rejecting "gender ideology".[3]

During the campaign he accused Muslim migrants of "killing and raping European women in Germany and France" and claimed his opponents wanted to destroy Slovak culture. He also condemned NATO, European Union institutions as well as homosexuals.[4] According to Globsec, Harabin was the most favoured candidate by "pro-Kremlin disinformation channels" on Facebook, receiving 174 positive and no negative posts.[5]

Harabin finished third, winning 14.3% of votes.

References
  1. Harabinovi sa politické ambície vypomstili. Koncom decembra mu zaniká funkcia sudcu
  2. "Štefan Harabin – Government page". Government of Slovakia. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  3. "Za Slovensko, tradície a právny štát". Extra Plus. 28 January 2019.
  4. Marc Santora (15 March 2019). "In Slovakia, Unlikely Presidential Candidate Signals a Backlash Against Populism". The New York Times.
  5. Miroslava Sawiris (13 March 2019). "Slovak Presidential Election Followed Through Facebook Disinformation Channels". Globsec.
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