JUSTICE Minister Tomáš Borec sacked the chairman of the Bardejov District Court, Karol Krochta, due to the loss of his credibility. Krochta’s sister won a selection procedure to become a judge at the very court that he headed, while he is also alleged to have physically assaulted someone.
Krochta’s sister, Katarína Krochtová, got the job after she outperformed her most serious opponent in an oral exam by just one point. The oral exam was assessed solely by senate members chosen by Krochta. He denied that he intervened in their decision-making on her behalf, according to the Sme daily.
Krochtová had been working as an assistant for a constitutional judge. She refused to explain why she applied for the post at the same court that was headed by her brother, Sme reported on January 19, 2014.
Moreover, the Constitutional Court is currently assessing the appeal of the General Prosecutor’s Office for prosecution of Krochta and stripping him of criminal immunity. Sme wrote that Krochta physically assaulted a woodcarver by the name of Jakub Moravčík in the village of Liptovská Porúbka in northern Slovakia during the New Year’s celebrations in 2012. The Prosecutor’s Office has accused Krochta of being an accomplice to inflicting bodily harm. The assault resulted in injuries that were serious enough for the police to assess the case as a criminal act, not just a minor offence.
However, Dalibor Fotta, the owner of the Liptovia recreation centre where the incident occurred, said that Krochta did not participate in the assault, which he added was not particularly serious.
“The judge beat no one; I was there,” Fotta said, as quoted by Sme. “It was just a misunderstanding, no one was seriously hurt.”
Borec dismissed Krochta after a personal interview with him and more than a month after Anna Ilčinová, the head of Prešov Regional Court, proposed his recall. He took longer than usual to decide over the case due to his busy schedule, according to Justice Ministry spokesperson Alexandra Donevová.
