Good evening. Here is theFriday, May 3 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
New prosecutors to supervise Kuciak case
Prosecutor Vladimír Kuruc. (source: SME - Marko Erd)
More than six years after the murders of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, the legal case against the man accused of masterminding the killings, Marian Kočner, remains unresolved.
The original prosecutors, Matúš Harkabus and Daniel Mikuláš, recently decided to quit the prosecution service after they were not allowed to relocate from the General Prosecutor’s Office in Bratislava to the prosecutor’s office in Žilina. General Prosecutor Maroš Žilinka did not explain to them why he declined their requests. The task of assigning elite prosecutors to prosecutor’s offices, and to cases, fell to Žilinka after the government's controversial decision to abolish the Special Prosecutor's Office was enacted in March. His handling of the office's former staff and its cases prompted eleven of the prosecutors to write an open letter in which they severely criticised his management and decision-making.
Now, the news website Aktuality.sk reports, prosecutors Vladimír Kuruc and Peter Kysel are being assigned to take over the Kuciak case. It is currently at the Supreme Court, with a panel of three judges led by Peter Paluda studying the case file, which contains more than 39,000 pages.
Kuruc previously supervised the so-called Caiaphas case, prosecuting the lawyer Marek Para, who has since been appointed a legal aide to Prime Minister Robert Fico and was one of the authors of the new Penal Code (which is currently subject to a challenge in the Constitutional Court). It is not known if Kuruc will continue to oversee the case.
Kuruc was also a witness in the corruption case against his former boss, ex-special prosecutor Dušan Kovačik. The latter was convicted and is now serving a prison sentence.
Peter Kysel supervised the gangland cases against the Sýkoras and the Krátky brothers. He successfully convicted Alena Zsuzsová of the contract killing of a Hurbanovo mayor, for which she was sentenced to 21 years in prison. Zsuzsová, who was an accomplice of the alleged mastermind of Kuciak’s murder, Marian Kočner, was convicted in the Kuciak case last year.
The prosecutors dealing with the Kuciak case have changed several times in recent years.
Like Harkabus and Mikuláš, Kysel and Kuruc were among the signatories of the open letter criticising General Prosecutor Maroš Žilinka.
MORE STORIES FROM THE SLOVAK SPECTATOR WEBSITE
Media: Slovakia has fallen 12 places in the latest media freedom ranking published by Reporters Without Borders on May 3, which is World Press Freedom Day.
Business: Green buses will take holiday-makers to the Croatian coast during the summer. See how much you will pay for tickets.
Opinion: The British International School Bratislava writes aboutfutureproofing children for an uncertain world.
How to spend your weekend: The antiques bazaar in Stupava and a day of board games in Pezinok are just some of our weekend suggestions.
Restaurant review: Briton Mark Taylor visited this Chinese restaurant in Bratislava for the first time in 1999. It's still there, so he returned to experience the food – and some nostalgia.
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FEATURE STORY FOR THE WEEKEND
Why this British student wants to become a Slovak
Robbie Harris (source: Archive of R. H.)
When Robbie Harris told his friends about his Slovak ancestor, they were amazed. No wonder: Pavel Jozef Pukančík was an airman serving in Britain's Royal Air Force during the Second World War. In an interview with The Slovak Spectator, Harris explains why he too wants to become a Slovak.
FREE EVENTS IN BRATISLAVA
Schumann under the pyramid
The next 'Organ Concert under the Pyramid', held at Slovak Radio's iconic inverted pyramid building, will take place on May 12. Entry is free. For more details, search for 'Koncerty RTVS'. illustrative stock photo. (source: Tomáš Benedikovič)
On Saturday, a group of hikers will meet at Nivy bus station for a challenging hike to Geldek (694m) and Jelenec (695m) in the Small Carpathians.
IN OTHER NEWS
Lukáš Machala, a government official whose name has been mentioned among possible candidates to lead the planned new government-controlled state broadcaster, Slovak Television and Radio (STVR), thinks the Earth might be flat.No, he really does.
The United States has strongly condemned what it says is malicious cyber activity by Russia’s General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), also known as APT28, against Germany, Czechia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden.
A Ukrainian suspected of collaborating with a Russian-funded disinformation site is reported to be in Slovakia. The interior minister has denied knowing anything about him, but his own ministry says it is investigating the case.
Slovenská Sporiteľňa bank will adjust its fee schedule from July. The changes will apply to cross-border debit and credit card payments. SpaceX accounts will be scrapped. If a client does not opt for a different account by June 30, the bank will change it. A new Premium package for €13 per month will be introduced. Changes will also affect cross-border payments to Serbia, the UK, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. (SITA)
Support for EU and NATO membership in Slovakia has surged after a plunge in 2023, and stands at some 70 percent for both structures, shows the latest Globsec survey, mapping the opinions and moods of the population in nine CEE countries. As for the question of who is primarily responsible for the war in Ukraine, 40 percent of respondents in Slovakia mentioned Russia for the second year in a row, while 51 percent blamed the West or even Ukraine.
Slovenská Pošta, the national postal operator, has issued a postage stamp to mark the 100th anniversary of the commissioning of the Prague - Bratislava - Košice air connection. The motif of the postage stamp is an Aero 14 plane, which was the first to fly on this route, and a map of Czechoslovakia with the motif of Slovak mountains. (source: TASR/Slovenská pošta)
WEATHER FOR THE WEEKEND: Expect cloudy weather, with occasional rain showers. The highest daytime temperature could be up to 27°C in some regions. (SHMÚ)
NAME DAYS IN SLOVAKIA DURING THE WEEKEND: Florián (Saturday), Lesia/Lesana (Sunday), and Hermína (Monday.
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