Andrej Kiska was president between 2014 and 2019, after which he founded and briefly led the Za Ľudí party. The charges relate to the 2014 presidential election campaign. (source: TASR)
The trial of Andrej Kiska, who served as president of Slovakia between 2014 and 2019, continued on September 20 at Poprad District Court. The presentation of evidence has now concluded, but no verdict has yet been returned.
The prosecution accuses Kiska of tax evasion, along with Eduard Kučkovský, a director of the KTAG company. This company, initially named Kiska Travel Agency and co-owned by Andrej Kiska and his brother Jaroslav, is alleged to have billed as legitimate business expenses costs that were in fact related to Andrej Kiska's 2014 presidential election campaign, thus committing a tax fraud. According to the charges, the company unjustly claimed a VAT refund of €155,000.
Kiska and Kučkovský deny the charges.
During the latest court session, a former employee of KTAG, who worked as an accountant from 2011 to 2015, testified that she misrecorded the disputed invoices on the instructions of Kučkovský.
Closing statements from all the involved parties, including the prosecutor, defence lawyers and the charged, are scheduled for October 11, which is when the first-instance court's verdict may be returned.
Kiska's perspective
Both of the charged deny their guilt. During the initial hearing on June 29 of this year, Kiska claimed that he was being politically targeted, stating that no one in Slovak and Czech legal history had been prosecuted for recording legitimate company expenses that the tax authorities did not dispute. He emphasised that the investigation had spanned more than eight years and had been suspended twice before charges were finally brought. Kiska alleged that the process is part of a political campaign against him.
Kiska's lawyer, Peter Kubina, argued that no crime had been committed and requested the exoneration of his client. Eduard Kučovský, the CEO of KTAG, also provided testimony in his defence.
Despite the lengthy proceedings, the trial has been moving forward at the expected pace, with the court setting additional hearing dates for September and October. The timing of the trial may be significant, as it could potentially impact the outcome of upcoming parliamentary elections.
After stepping down from the presidency, Kiska founded and briefly led a new party, Za Ľudí (For the People), that won seats in the 2020 election. Za Ľudí is also running in this year's election – as part of a coalition with OĽaNO and Christian Union. However, in June Kiska announced on social media that he would be voting for Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) in the September 30 poll.
