A Bratislava district court on Tuesday dropped all charges against former Slovak privatisation minister Peter Bisák and the ex-president of state-run privatisation agency FNM, Stefan Gavorník, TASR news wire wrote.
The two state officials from the era of Vladimir Mečiar's third government (1995-1998) were accused of accepting millions of crowns worth of bribes related to the privatisation of state-owned companies in 1995.
According to the court, the key witness in the present case, Martin Suchár, on whose testimony the entire accusation was based, failed to produce reliable evidence that would support the allegations stated in the indictment.
None of the other witnesses backed Suchár's testimony that he acted as a mediator between Bisák and Gavorník and bidders in the privatisation of two state-controlled companies (Elektrosystémy Bratislava and Slovenské magnezitové závody Haèava). Two of the bidders refused to appear before the court, while other witnesses categorically dismissed all of Suchár's statements.
Charges against Bisák included those of misconduct and taking a bribe, while Gavorník was charged only with taking a bribe.
Compiled by Beata Balogová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
