(source: SME)
The National Criminal Agency (NAKA) detained Special Prosecutor Dušan Kováčik on the morning of October 22, the Denník N daily reported.
Police refused to comment, taking into consideration the ongoing procedures, said Michal Slivka, spokesperson of the Police Corps Presidium.
Spokesperson of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Jana Tökölyová refused to comment on the case as well.
Besides Kováčik, NAKA is said to have arrested a high-ranking police official from a special unit. They reportedly helped the Takáčovci organised crime group, according to Denník N.
The arrests are also said to be linked with the September detention of Ľudovít Makó, who had been working at the Financial Administration, and has since decided to cooperate with the police, as the Aktuality.sk news website reported.
Although Kováčik is a special prosecutor, there are no special steps or procedures concerning his arrest and potential prosecution in custody, like requiring consent from the General Prosecutor’s Office or the Constitutional Court, according to the daily.
Scandals disappeared from his office
In 2017, media reported that Kováčik did not file any criminal lawsuits in 61 cases he had been supervising in eight years at the post.
Kováčik has been in the office since 2004 and filed 12 criminal lawsuits between 2004 and 2008, according to the Týždeň weekly.
He has stopped some of the most serious scandals in Slovak history. For example, he halted an investigation into the funding of the Smer party. The case concerned an audio recording dating back to the election campaign before the 2002 parliamentary elections, featuring a voice deemed to be similar to the party's Robert Fico, boasting about securing 75 million Slovak crowns (almost €2.5 million) for the party.
The media reports on the Threema communication of mobster Marian Kočner have also suggested that Norbert Bödör, the son of Nitra-based businessman Miroslav Bödör, was a liaison between Kočner and Kováčik, and that Bödör and Kováčik were meeting regularly for information.
Kováčik responded that he had information about his so-called friendship with Bödör only from the media. He met him at cultural and sports events about eight to 10 years ago, but has no relation, not even a so-called above-standard relationship with him, as he has reiterated on several occasions.
