ORDINARY People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) chairman Igor Matovič said on June 2 that chairman of the new party Sieť (Network) and unsuccessful presidential candidate Radoslav Procházka attempted to purchase campaign ads under the counter in an advertisement newspaper published by Matovič’s family. OĽaNO specified that Procházka approached him in a private conversation, suggesting that he should pay 50-90 percent of the total sum for the desired service in cash without a receipt.
Procházka stated at a press conference in parliament on June 3 that he sought to fund his campaign via a transparent account at all times. Nevertheless, he conceded that “a few thousands euros, or so” went astray, pointing an accusatory finger at his campaign chief Martin Dubéci and staff member Andrej Zmeček. The Sieť head claims that he learned about the accusations only on June 2, after Matovič went public with them.
“I gave the guys a telling off for this,” said Procházka, as quoted by the TASR newswire, adding that he had explicitly told them to fund everything only from the transparent account. The “guys” only wanted to help him, however, he said. He also stated that Matovič recently sent him several short text messages for being two days late with payments for the ads. Matovič allegedly threatened to organise a press conference, at which he would reveal that Procházka and his team are fraudsters.
“I called the guys names, as I didn’t know this; they got orders from me to order only things we have money for. That’s why we scrapped advertising videos, billboards, municipal broadcasts,” Porcházka said, as quoted by the SITA newswire. “I feel thankful towards Andrej Zmeček and Martin Dubéci. For a while, I was angry, but this was the price for not having a rich sponsor,” he concluded. Procházka claims that all donations he received have been listed on the report for the Finance Ministry, including a gift from Zmeček. The discrepancy in claims that he received €20,000 and the report which states €10,000 can be allegedly explained by the fact that the report for the ministry includes only items from the last 15 days before the election.
The failed presidential candidate said, according to TASR, that he is only aware of €20,000 going over and above the official account. If any further illicit funds appear, the media should ask Dubéci and Zmeček, he concluded, claiming that he has not spoken to either of them recently, because his mobile phone “has broken down”.
When it comes to the lie detector test, Procházka said that he is ready to undergo it, but he certainly will not debate the conditions with Matovič. “No agreements can be made with a psychopath,” he said, adding that the public arena is no amusement park.
“The test must have a certain procedural and technical level in order to be trustworthy,” said Procházka, adding that he is ready to respond to the question of whether his campaign cost more than €250,000. Matovič claims that, according to various specialists, Procházka’s campaign prior to the March 2014 presidential election must have cost €700,000-800,000. Matovič also appeared at the press conference, calling on Procházka to confess that he is a thief and a fraudster, and that he did not fund his campaign legally. Procházka did not respond, however, and left the room without uttering a word.
(Source: TASR, SITA)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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