The Office of the General Prosecutor has halted the prosecution of former police vice-president Stanislav Jankovič in connection with the alleged cover-up of a speeding offence involving businessman Ján Božík. The prosecutor said there is a lack of evidence confirming that it was Jankovič who returned the driving licence and that a recording of a phone conversation between the two men cannot be used as evidence in the investigation, the Sme daily reported.
Božík was caught driving 190 kilometres per hour on the R1 dual carriageway in June 2010. Police officers fined him €400 and, when he refused to pay the fine, confiscated his driving licence. Božík then allegedly called Jankovič, who arrived at the police station in Žiar nad Hronom, and asked that the driving licence be returned to the businessman and that the offence be deleted from the public record.
The pair’s alleged telephone conversation was recorded as Božík was at the time being investigated over suspicions of corruption. The prosecutor in the case, Tibor Šumichrast, says that they cannot use the recording since it was made in the investigation of a completely different case. However, in March this year deputy general prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka said that the recordings could be used, despite their original purpose being completely different, Sme wrote.
There has been speculation that Jankovič may be appointed the new national police chief by Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák.
Source: Sme
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
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