Good evening. Here is theTuesday, March 5edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
We are celebrating 29 years and our anniversary subscription is available only for €29. Take advantage of this limited offer to support our work. Thank you.
EU court rules in favour of Kočner
Marian Kočner in the courtroom. (source: SME)
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on March 5 that data from mobile phones belonging to imprisoned Slovak businessman Marian Kočner were unlawfully published in the media following the February 2018 murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kušnírová, causing Kočner, who is believed to have ordered the killings, non-material damage.
The TASR news agency was the first to break the news.
“The Court of Justice concludes that the unlawful processing infringed Mr Kočner’s right to respect for his private and family life and his communications, adversely affecting his honour and reputation,” reads the press release.
The court, which thus overturned a previous ruling by a lower-instance court, also ruled that Kočner should be awarded €2,000 in damages.
Background: At the request of Slovak authorities, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) extracted the data stored on two phones allegedly belonging to Kočner. Europol sent its scientific reports to the Slovak authorities and delivered a hard disk containing the encrypted data it had extracted. In May 2019, the Slovak press published information relating to Kočner from his mobile telephones, including transcripts of intimate communications.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
Politics: PM Robert Fico calls on Constitutional Court Chief Justice Ivan Fiačan to resign.
EU: Eurostat wants to know why the government dismissed the previous head of the Statistics Office, Peter Peťko, and replaced him with a former Smer MP.
Courts: The Constitutional Court suspends the key parts of an amendment to the Penal Code. (analysis)
ARCHAEOLOGY STORY FOR TUESDAY
Remains of WWII soldier found in Trnava Region
The remains of a WWII soldier. (source: KPÚ Trnava)
The skeletal remains of a soldier from the Second World War along with trenches were found by archaeologists in Senica during a recent dig at the building site.
EVENT FOR APRIL
Devín Run
Devín Run map. (source: devin-bratislava.eu)
The oldest Slovak athletic event, the Devín National Run – Bratislava, will take place on April 14. The first Devín run took place on April 24, 1921.
Runners can register here.
In other news
This year’s Globsec Forum will take place in Prague from August 30 to September 1. The organisation’s headquarters will remain in Bratislava.
A total of 20,891 flats were built in Slovakia in 2023, an increase of 3.3 percent year-on-year, the Statistics Office has reported.
Slovakia will join the European Electronic Toll Service (EETS) as of March 15, the National Highway Company (NDS) has announced.
The National Crime Agency (NAKA) has pressed charges of corruption against Ľudovít Makó. He is a former head of the Financial Administration’s Criminal Office and a cooperating defendant who has testified in several high-profile corruption cases. (Markíza)
The Supreme Court confirmed on Tuesday a five-year prison sentence for Prešov councillor Rudolf Dupkala. The decision of the Supreme Court is valid. According to the charges, Dupkala demanded a bribe of €20,000 from the operator of the ice hockey arena in Prešov in 2018. This was to allegedly mediate the City Hall’s approval of a €600,000 contribution to construct another hockey training facility. (SITA)
Dissatisfied railway workers during a public meeting in support of the railway sector at the railway station in Košice on March 5, 2024. (source: TASR)
WEATHER FOR WEDNESDAY: For Wednesday, expect changeable cloud cover, with intermittent showers likely in some areas of the northeast. Daily temperatures will range from 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. A weak wind is anticipated, reaching speeds of up to 35 km/hr. A yellow wind warning has been issued for some districts in the Košice Region, including the city of Košice. (SHMÚ)
MARCH 6 NAME'S DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Radoslav, Radoslava.
Thank you for subscribing and reading. It means a lot to us.
P.S. If you have suggestions on how our news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
Follow The Slovak Spectator on Facebook and Instagram (@slovakspectator).
