KAROL Mello, the man accused of organising a 2004 gangland hit which left a woman and child dead, is apparently on the run again. He had been arrested last year in Poland after being sought by Slovak police for several years, subsequently extradited and charged. But a series of legal bungles led to his release from custody by a court in Bratislava earlier this year. He is now reported to have fled again, while a wrangle continues over which court, if any, is authorised to issue a warrant for his re-arrest.
“We are doing all we can within the limits of law [to detain Mello],” Police Corps president Jaroslav Spišiak said, as quoted by the Sme daily.
The police have been waiting for an arrest warrant for Mello for weeks, but judges in Topoľčany, Nitra and Bratislava have passed the prosecutor’s filing from one court to another. It has now ended up with the Supreme Court, which will decide on the matter.
Interior Minister Daniel Lipšic said that he considers the case to be a total failure of the Slovak judicial system. He said that the police had managed to catch the alleged murderer after several years’ search, only for the courts to free him and subsequently prove unable to issue a new warrant.
11. Jul 2011 at 0:00 | Compiled by Spectator staff
