The Office of the General Prosecutor erred in the case of Baki Sadiki, the convicted head of the Albanian drug mafia in Slovakia, and must thus pay €150,000 to the president of the Supreme Court, Štefan Harabin, the Bratislava District Court has ruled. Interest charges will boost the sum by another €37,000. The Office of the General Prosecutor will appeal the ruling, the Sme daily reported on October 30.
Harabin sued the Office of the General Prosecutor in connection with the publication of a transcript of a conversation he had with Sadiki which suggested that he was on friendly terms with the mafia chief. In the conversation, the transcript of which was published in 2008, Harabin and Sadiki are heard setting up a meeting.
Harabin has claimed that the court ruling confirms that the transcript was falsified. The verdict and award went unreported – since none of the parties involved nor the court spoke publicly about it – until Harabin mentioned it on October 27, when Sadiki, who was convicted in absentia in Slovakia of serious drug trafficking offences, was detained in Kosovo and he was asked about his relationship with him. However, it is still not clear precisely what failures the District Court identified in the conduct of the Office of the General Prosecutor.
Harabin warned media outlets against re-publishing the transcript, saying that if they did they would bear the consequences.
“It is absurd,” opposition MP Daniel Lipšic, who originally drew attention to the transcript, commented on the amount granted to Harabin as compensation, as quoted by Sme. He also said that the court ruling could not cast doubt on the authenticity of the transcript.
Source: Sme
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
