The police took Kováčik directly to prison. (source: TASR)
Welcome to your weekly commentary and overview of news from Slovakia. A former special prosecutor lands in prison for committing the very crimes it was his job to prevent. Matovič’s aid package sails through parliament. Fuel prices are an issue as coalition conflict continues. Eastern Slovakia is another Burgenland waiting for its chance.
Scroll down to download the PDF version of the latest print edition of The Slovak Spectator. This month’s focus is Real Estate. Take a look at the Largest in Business, this time with the rankings of HR companies.
Kováčik gets prison sentence for taking bribe
Dušan Kováčik served two full terms as Slovakia’s special prosecutor. Now he sits in prison for, among other crimes, taking a hefty bribe from a man who is testifying in several high-profile cases of alleged corruption and abuse of power.
The final verdict that the Supreme Court handed to the former special prosecutor on May 24 is viewed as a big deal, and possibly a breakthrough case. At the time he committed the crime, Kováčik was in a uniquely powerful position: answerable only to the general prosecutor. The Slovak courts have never before sentenced a person who ranked so high in the prosecution service, but after Kováčik’s case, they must now deal with that of former general prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka.
Kováčik’s case is also directly and indirectly linked to a number of other cases involving former high-ranking state and judicial officials. The investigations that led to these charges began in earnest after the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová in February 2018. The picture that has emerged, based on charges laid by investigators, is that an organised group operated at the highest levels of the government, the police, and the judiciary: the most recent charges were pressed against former prime minister, now opposition leader, Robert Fico.
