Poprad
Poprad District Court Judge Miroslav R. was detained briefly after a routine police roadside check of his Volkwagen Passat on July 16. When the judge was unable to produce documentation showing he owned the car, police searched him and discovered 18 ampules of cocaine mixed with glucose, as well as a disassembled 8.57 millimetre rifle with telescopic sights and four bullets, and a legally registered 9 mm pistol.
The red-handed judge will be investigated, but will not be taken into pre-trial custody, after a Košice District Court judge refused to approve the arrest of his Poprad colleague despite the compelling evidence.
"The work of proving serious criminal activity is complex and demanding, and is too often foiled by the lenient rulings of judges," protested Slovak Police Forces President Ján Pipta after the Košice court ruling. Pipta said that a similar event had happened when a Banská Bystrica judge refused to authorise the arrest of a Bratislava District Judge for blackmail and usury.
