Kováč Jr. A bizzarre day in the life of the President's son and in a nation

If you ever wanted to be in a country where the president's son gets kidnapped, and the government tries to convince the public that he kidnapped himself, welcome to Slovakia - a place whose political scene provides entertainment comparable to novels by Frederick Forsyth.

The saga all began when Michal Kováč Jr., the president's son, was kidnapped the last day of August on his way to work. As he was driving in Sväty Jur, about 10 km out of Bratislava, several cars blocked his way, and a man in an army uniform made him step out of his car. He was grabbed by other men in civilian clothes and ordered to cooperate.

However, Kováč Jr. refused, so his abductors overpowered him with an unknown gas, electric shocks and then poured two bottles of whiskey down his throat. They then took him across the Austrian border to Hainburg and left him, beaten and unconscious, in front of the police station.

Vol. 1 No. 15, Sept. 13-26, 1995

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