SLOVAKIA's anti-corruption office submitted a proposal to prosecutors to charge Ivan Lexa, former head of the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS), with abuse of power and embezzlement.
Lexa, a former member of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, already faces about a dozen charges related to the time when he led the SIS between 1995 and 1998.
According to the state run news agency TASR, the latest indictment concerns abuse of office in 1994 - 1995 when he was an MP. Lexa allegedly compelled SIS officers to testify about SIS organisational structure and operating methods in breach of their oath of secrecy. At that time Lexa was in a special parliamentary committee for the control of the SIS.
The embezzlement allegations date back to when he led the SIS and involve a scam to retain social security contributions totalling Sk5 million (€125,000) that should have been paid on behalf of several SIS employees. The anti-corruption office has also requested that Jaroslav Svěchota, the former deputy chief of the SIS, be charged.
If convicted, Lexa faces up to 12 years in prison.
Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
