SEVEN PEOPLE charged in a brutal 1999 underworld murder in east Slovakia's Košice were released from pre-trial custody because of a gross procedural error made by a Košice regional court judge.
The judge failed to observe the 10-day time limit for requesting their custody be prolonged following the expiry of an earlier custody decision.
The men, who allegedly belong to the criminal gang of murdered former underworld boss Karol Kolárik, are accused of the gangland slaying of Miroslav Stojka, who was killed by machete-wielding attackers following the machine-gun murder of Kolárik.
