Vladimír Palko of the Christian Democrats of Slovakia (KDS) said on August 25 that he would propose at the next parliamentary session to amend legislation in order to prevent a repeat of a recent incident in which an undercover officer and an informant were killed.
The two men were killed on August 4 after using the robbery of an exchange office in Levice (Nitra region) to lead them to a local gang leader. They were killed when it was discovered that the briefcase they were carrying did not contain the money.
Palko been the most vocal critic of the ill-fated police operation. He said that one mistake was that the operation was not carried out in accordance with the Criminal Code under the supervision of the Prosecutor's Office. This was partly due to a misinterpretation of the current wording of the law.
"The current wording allows for the interpretation that a police officer can act undercover in two ways, either with or without the supervision of the Prosecutor's Office. Such an interpretation is harmful and, as is evident, may result in tragedy," Palko said.
If the amendment is adopted, police operations such as the one in Levice could only take place after an investigation had begun under the supervision of a prosecutor. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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