Ján Ducký, former Minister of Economy in the cabinet of Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar, was murdered by an unknown killer on January 11 in Bratislava. The killing came only three days after Economy Ministry Ľudovít Černák announced that Ducký was under investigation for gross financial mismanagement of the giant SPP state gas company that he led from April 1997 to November 1998.
By January 14, police had still not identified the assassin nor a motive for the crime, and would say only that Ducký had taken three bullets to the head from a 7.65 millimeter pistol that probably had a silencer attached.
Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda said that his cabinet would use all tools to investigate the crime, but warned that the murder might have been politically motivated. "It could be a sign to the government from certain groups not to proceed in investigating crimes and mismanagement of state property during the most recent period [of the Mečiar government]," Dzurinda said, adding that the cabinet would not be deterred from exposing past misdeeds.
Vol. 5 No. 2, Jan. 18-24, 1999
