Jaroslav P., sentenced to life in prison as part of an alleged criminal group from eastern Slovakia lead by Róbert Ó. was freed on June 24, the SITA newswire wrote. The Slovak Supreme Court could have left him behind bars but it missed the deadline to prolong his custody, TV Markíza reported in its Thursday evening evening news.
Jaroslav P. was sentenced to life in prison by Slovakia’s Special Court but he appealed the sentence to the Supreme Court.
“The defendant was set free, as the legal conditions for custody were not fulfilled,” Peter Preti of the Supreme Court said in the TV report.
The four-year deadline for custody of Jaroslav P. ended on June 14, according to TV Markíza; the Supreme Court could have prolonged his custody before this date, however, it failed to do so. His file had been waiting for two months at the Supreme Court to be acted upon.
“We sent the file to the Supreme Court on April 17 and it had to decide on the matter,” spokesperson of the Special Court Katarína Kudjáková said. TV Markíza was not able to find out why the custody was not prolonged. By the time he was released, Jaroslav P. had already been serving his sentence ten days overdue and he plans to seeks damages. SITA, TV Markíza
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
