THE SPECIAL Prosecutor's Office announced on September 22 it had dropped criminal charges against former Slovak secret service (SIS) head Ivan Lexa for allegedly ordering the 1996 murder of Robert Remiáš, a key figure in a case implicating the SIS in a political kidnapping.
Special Prosecutor Dušan Kováčik said he had concluded there was no proof linking Lexa to the Remiáš murder, or of abusing his powers as SIS director. "I halted the prosecution after concluding that the criminal act - incitement to murder - didn't happen," Kováčik said.
Attorney General Dobroslav Trnka, also present at last Friday’s press conference, said that the investigation into Remiáš’s death would continue, although he indicated that Remiáš may have been involved with drugs.
Remiáš was killed when a bomb planted under his car exploded on April 29, 1996. He had been in contact with former SIS agent Oskar Fegyveres, who witnessed the kidnapping of Michal Kováč Jr, the son of the sitting president, in August 1995.
Fegyveres fled the country, but later returned to Slovakia. He was given a new identity in exchange for cooperating with the police.
