Borec defends intervention in Olejník case, party backs him

Justice Minister Tomáš Borec on February 19 attended a session of the parliamentary Defence and Security Committee which invited him to explain his appeal in the case of former Košice councillor František Olejník.

Justice Minister Tomáš Borec on February 19 attended a session of the parliamentary Defence and Security Committee which invited him to explain his appeal in the case of former Košice councillor František Olejník.

Invited by opposition MPs, he explained his steps in the case, the TASR newswire wrote.

A former Smer deputy in Košice, František Olejník, was found guilty of corruption, but Borec has submitted a special appeal to the Supreme Court. He also decided that Olejník does not have to start serving his prison sentence while the appeal plays out, the Sme daily reported in mid February.

The Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok sentenced Olejník, who was charged with taking a bribe, to five years in prison and a fine of €3,000. The verdict was later confirmed by the Supreme Court in April 2013. Both courts issued their verdicts based on police wiretapping Olejník’s phone calls for several months. However, Borec opines that the courts erred and he is innocent, as the courts decided without relevant evidence.

During the session of the committee, Borec explained that in such cases he has “the legal obligation to file an appeal. As a justice minister, it is my obligation, in the sense of a motion form the person involved, to intervene if I evaluate that the appeal is based on good arguments,” according to TASR. He pointed out that a month before the Olejník appeal, he also filed the appeal against an acquitting verdict in another case – involving a constitutional official, by coincidence. He concluded that so far, he filed 31 appeals, of them 18 last year.

In Olejník’s case, he deemed “incorrect use and evaluation of some of the evidence, more specifically the wiretappings”. Smer MPs in the committee supported Borec and passed a resolution that his explanation was sufficient, the Sme daily wrote February 20.

(Source: TASR, Sme)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.

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