Interior Minister Denisa Saková on May 23 announced that early next week, she would present changes in key personnel in the police, while also confirming that Police Corps vice-president Ľubomír Ábel is due to leave his post at his own will.
Only an interim Police Corps president will be presented next week, to remain in place until a new law is adopted to change the process of how the national police chief is selected, Saková said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
The minister did not confirm claims that Ábel’s resignation was due to his unfulfilled ambition to replace outgoing Police Corps President Tibor Gašpar. Instead, she said that several top police figures have been disappointed with unpleasant reporting in the media on the police in recent months despite “excellent results” in resolving crimes and handling traffic accidents.
Rumours of new police president
The minister also did not confirm rumours that police attaché in Croatia, Marián Slobodník, will become head of the police. Nonetheless, she did not rule out the possibility that he is being considered among the final three candidates. Commenting on some of Slobodník’s scandals dating back to 2011 and 2012, Saková said that she does not view them as an obstacle, as she believes that they have already been properly explained.
The press conference beginning next week shall present the new candidate for police president, and bid farewell to the outgoing one, too, the minister said, according to TASR. She also revealed that the changes in the police would be deeper. “I have only the authority for two levels; the president and vice-presidents, while other personnel competences will be with the new police president,” Saková explained.
The changes in the national police come following the murders of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová and the subsequent mass public protests which also resulted in the resignations of former prime minister Robert Fico and interior minister Robert Kaliňák.
