Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR)
Although the Bratislava Regional Court decided to release four investigators of the National Criminal Agency (NAKA) who are working on high-profile corruption cases back in early October, it took three more weeks for the court to publish its written reasoning.
The reasoning not only clearly states that the court saw no reason to prosecute the NAKA officers but also reveals the suspicions that they had about the work of the Bureau of Inspection Service, running under the Interior Ministry, which is the agency that pressed charges against the NAKA officers, the Sme daily reported.
At the centre of the suspicions is the head of the inspectorate’s team that pressed the charges, Diana Santusová. The Bratislava Regional Court did not comment on the suspicions, but backed the NAKA officers’ investigation of the Slovak Information Service (SIS) intelligence agency and the inspectorate as the right thing to do, Sme reported.
The court also questions the reasons given for taking the four investigators into custody by the lower instance court in mid-September.
The entire operation was considered a strong blow against the NAKA investigators in the so-called war among the police, so named because the NAKA team allegedly faces the opposition of the inspection service, the Bratislava prosecutor’s office and SIS.
It is now up to the General Prosecutor’s Office to decide whether it will continue in the prosecution of the four NAKA investigators. The office has not specified what it will do yet, as reported by Sme.
