The Government Office will publish an apology in the press to Hedviga Žáková (née Malinová), a Hungarian-speaking Slovak student who was accused of lying to the police after reporting an assault in Nitra in 2006, the government decided at its session on Wednesday, February 1.
The move follows the government's decision on September 28, 2011, to approve an agreement concerning Žáková's legal proceedings against Slovakia, the TASR newswire wrote. The agreement obliges the government to publish an apology to Žáková in the press. At the same time, she will drop her legal action at the European Court of Human Rights against Slovakia relating to mistakes which she alleges were made in the investigation.
The case dates back to 2006, when Žáková was a university student in Nitra. She reporting being attacked after being overheard speaking Hungarian on her mobile phone. The investigation into the case was quickly dropped, however, with then-interior minister Robert Kaliňák (Smer) claiming she had made the whole story up. In 2007 she was charged with providing false testimony, but the case later become bogged down in arguments over expert testimony and evidence and has never been put before a court.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
