Ľuboš Kosík speaks out from Mali prison. (source: Courtesy of Sme)
A former agent of the Slovak Information Service (SIS) intelligence agency, Ľuboš Kosík, was abducted from his home in Bamako, the capital of Mali. The information was confirmed to the Sme daily by a source close to Kosík.
"Ľuboš Kosík, my client with Slovak citizenship, a former officer in his homeland, was kidnapped last Tuesday by armed men from his home in Bamako," Youssouf Keita, Kosík's lawyer, told AFP agency, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Kosík has said, according to the Sme daily, that he wants to testify in the case of the 1995 abduction of former President Michal Kováč's son by SIS.
The former SIS agent was reportedly kidnapped on January 15. Sme wrote that it communicated with him on the same day. He did not reply to the last message and his phone is unavailable at the moment, as the daily reported.
It is not known whether Slovakia, which issued an arrest warrant against Kosík, could have helped coordinate his arrest in Mali.
No information on Kosík's kidnapping
"We do not have any information on the abduction of Kosík, therefore we cannot comment on this situation," said the Police Presidium, as quoted by TASR.
Mali has not confirmed the abduction to Slovakia's Foreign Affairs Ministry. However, the police had tried several times to extradite Kosík from Mali before.
"We're very concerned about Kosík's kidnapping," said Michel Desert, a member of a group supporting the former secret agent, as quoted by TASR.
"Taking into account the elements submitted by Slovakia, the Malian justice system refused the request for extradition," a source close to the Malian justice system told AFP, as reported by TASR, excluding Mali's involvement in the abduction.
Desert opined that Slovakia could have ordered the operation after Mali refused to extradite Kosík, TASR wrote.
However, in December 2018 Justice Minister Gábor Gál (Most-Híd) signed and sent another request to Mali for Kosík's extradition.
