Former National Crime Agency official Bernard Slobodník in court on August 21, 2023 in Banská Bystrica. (source: Ján Krošlák)
The Specialised Criminal Court judge has approved a plea agreement in the case of former top police official Bernard Slobodník.
On Monday, Slobodník was found guilty of accepting a bribe in three different cases. He committed them as a public official, the SITA news agency wrote.
Arrested in 2020, he had been at the helm of the National Financial Police Unit of the National Crime Agency. Today, Slobodník is a cooperating defendant, admits to committing crimes and convicting other persons such as former police chief and Smer politician Tibor Gašpar and former special prosecutor Dušan Kováčik.
“I'm very sorry and regret the actions I have taken,” said Slobodník on August 21.
The court ordered a prison sentence of three years with a conditional suspension of four years. At the same time, Slobodník cannot meet certain people and is prohibited from holding public functions for five years.
Opposition attacks at Slobodník
Lawyer Marek Para tried to object to the agreement, although he did not defend anybody in the cases in which Slobodník had been convicted. The lawyer for the opposition Smer party failed with his objection.
It is the opposition, most notably Smer, that claims that the police have manipulated Slobodník.
Slobodník remains prosecuted in several high-profile criminal cases, but the criminal prosecution against him has been stopped in some cases, or an indictment has been conditionally postponed as he helps the police.
