Former state secretary Jankovská may be released from custody

As the prosecutor appealed the decision, the case will be discussed by the Supreme Court.

Monika JankovskáMonika Jankovská (Source: TASR)

Monika Jankovská, former state secretary of the Justice Ministry, may soon leave custody after spending one year behind bars.

Specialised Criminal Court Judge, Peter Pulman, decided not to prolong her detention, which will expire on March 11. She will have to wear an electronic bracelet if released.

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The decision is not valid yet as the prosecutor has appealed. The final decision will be released by the Supreme Court, the Sme daily reported.

In a psychiatry ward

Jankovská was not present at the court proceeding as she is currently hospitalised at a psychiatric ward in Trenčín, following a suicide attempt.

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Ex-state secretary Jankovská transported to hospital Read more 

“She is not capable of coming to any hearing due to her bad mental condition, and particularly because of the incident at the end of January,” said her attorney Peter Erdös, as quoted by Sme.

He did not want to comment on the decision, saying that he has to study the written version first.

Prosecutor Valéria Simonová wanted the custody to be prolonged by a further seven months, until October 2021, giving the need to collect more evidence as a reason. She immediately challenged the decision to release Jankovská.

Speculative confession

Erdös has repeatedly said that Jankovská cannot impact witnesses as she does not serve as a judge or a state secretary anymore. Moreover, all witnesses in the case she could have influenced have already been heard, he added.

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Jankovská admitted to her relationship with Kočner. She also mentioned Fico Read more 

Simonová has a different opinion and said there are still reasons for the custody. She argued that even though Jankovská started cooperating with the investigators, she has confessed only partially, and probably on purpose.

“From my point of view, it is not a confession to committing the crime,” Simonová said, as quoted by Sme, adding that it is a speculative confession.

Jankovská has admitted, for example, that she helped mobster Marian Kočner in settling a court dispute over the authenticity of forged promissory notes, but allegedly not for money. Although the communication from Threema indicates that she had received remuneration for it, Jankovská herself said that she was convinced of the authenticity of the promissory notes, and that she only wanted to speed up the verdict as she was on good terms with Kočner, Sme wrote.

“In my opinion, she admits to certain facts that suit her,” Simonová added, as quoted by Sme. “Of course, she cannot confess to what she did not do, but from our point of view, the deeds for which the charges have been brought were sufficiently proven.”

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