A man identified as Štefan Kaluz will go to prison for 25 years after his conviction and sentence for the murder of László Basternák, a former mayor of Hurbanovo, was confirmed by the Supreme Court on Thursday, November 10.
At a public session, it turned down Kaluz's appeal against the original verdict of the Specialised Criminal Court (ŠTS) in Pezinok and confirmed that the lower-instance court had evaluated the evidence correctly. The ŠTS had sentenced him to 25 years on August 4 this year.
Someone originally made an attempt on Basternák's life in spring 2010 but he was not injured, the SITA newswire wrote. Then, on July 9, 2010, Kaluz, 31, was seen by members of Basternák's family climbing over the former mayor's fence before shooting and killing him. Bsternák’s son then returned fire, hitting Kaluz in the elbow and damaging his car to the point that it was unusable.
Kaluz was later identified by witnesses. He refused to testify at his trial, but claimed when questioned by police that he was not guilty. He received a life sentence for premeditated murder and possession of an illegal firearm. Police also interrogated Basternák’s main political rival, Roman Ostružlík, who said he was himself scared after the attacks on the ex-mayor. The motive for the murder is not known.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
