BAKI Sadiki, one of three men accused in a particularly serious case of illegal production, possession and trading of narcotics and, more specifically, of smuggling heroin from Turkey to Slovakia hidden in imported beach slippers, was sentenced in absentia to 22 years in a maximum security prison by the Prešov District Court on June 13, the SITA newswire reported.
Sadiki’s co-defendants, Juraj J. and Ján C., who both pleaded guilty, were sentenced to 15 years each in a medium security prison because of their cooperation with police. Lawyers for Sadiki and Juraj J. filed appeals while Ján C. has yet to make a decision about an appeal, SITA wrote.
The trial began in January, 2011, when Sadiki’s lawyer said that he and his client did not agree with the charges and proposed examination of the evidence. According to the prosecution, the three men were members of an organised group which in 2007 and 2008 trafficked at least 120 kilograms of heroin from Turkey to Slovakia and then distributed it on to Poland, Switzerland and Italy. The amount was enough to produce over 336,000 doses, worth some €3.35 million.
In several cases, the drugs are believed to have been stored temporarily in a boarding house in Starý Smokovec in the High Tatras where the police seized 10kg of heroin on September 19, 2008. The drugs are believed to have been smuggled via the Balkans and Sadiki was accused of being one of those managing the trade.
Sadiki is a Kosovar Albanian with a Slovak passport who is wanted internationally and is believed to be in hiding in Kosovo. Sadiki has also been reported to have enjoyed friendly relations with former justice minister and current Supreme Court president Štefan Harabin, who has denied that he and Sadiki were close.