Interior Minister Denisa Saková (l) and acting Police Corps President Milan Lučanský (r) (source: TASR)
Interior Minister Denisa Saková (Smer) has handed over a part of the investigation of journalist Ján Kuciak's murder from the original investigation team to the Interior Ministry's inspectorate, the Denník N daily reported.
The inspectors will scrutinise the preparation of the murder of the prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor's Office Maroš Žilinka, and former interior minister and lawyer Daniel Lipšic.
Controversial businessman Marián Kočner, who is also said to have ordered the murders, was in a conflict with Lipšic in the past, and Žilinka is currently overseeing the Technopol case, in which Kočner is being investigated.
"After a mutual agreement with the Special Prosecutor's Office and the General Prosecutor's Office, the Interior Ministry's inspectorate will be investigating the given matter to prevent information leaks from the case file and thus possible obstructions in the investigation," Saková said, as quoted by the Sme daily.
However, the Special Prosecutor's Office has no information for now on the agreement with the ministry in this regard, Denník N wrote.
Unexpected step
Lipšic, who represents the Kuciak family, is surprised along with the investigators by Saková's decision as the lawyer trusts investigators handling the Kuciak case.
"If this case is removed from the team, it evokes in me great doubts and suspicion of political manipulation," Lipšic said, as quoted by Sme.
The ministry's inspectorate does not usually deal with murders but cases where police officers violate the law while on duty.
"If one of the suspects turns out to be a police officer in the course of the investigation, it is standard procedure," said Ondrej Laciak from the criminal law department at Comenius University in Bratislava, as quoted by Sme.
If this case has been moved to the inspectorate, it suggests a police officer could help have helped those charged in the case of Kuciak and his fiance's murder, experts claimed, as reported by Sme.
Information leaks are problematic
Police Corps President Milan Lučanský does not like the idea of information leaks. But it is not illegal to publish information from the case file, he added.
"The injured party has the right to access and use of information," Lučanský told the private broadcaster TV JOJ, adding that the police only deal with illicit leaks.
It has been said the leaks appear to be also illegal. The lawyers of the families of the murdered couple pointed out the fact that oligarch Norbert Bödör had learned earlier that the police were going to question him over the monitoring of several Slovak journalists.
"It is apparent that the lawyers of the injured party are not passing information to Mr Bödör," Lipšic told Sme.
