BRATISLAVA
Police force President Ján Pipta apologised to Czech Prima TV journalist Vladimír Mišauer at a press conference on Tuesday, January 26. The apology stems from an incident involving former Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar after the funeral for former Economy Minister Ján Ducký on January 15. After being physically and verbally attacked by Mečiar, Mišauer was dragged away by a policeman.
The policeman claimed he had not seen Mečiar's assault on the journalist, saying that he only noticed an elderly group of HZDS supporters trying to attack Mišauer. It was for Mišauer's safety, the policeman explained, that he had applied physical force in removing the Czech journalist.
Pipta acknowledged that the policeman in question had acted inappropriately but added that he had not violated any police orders.
Mišauer responded by saying "he apologized to me. I consider this to be a correct conclusion to the case, as it emanated from somewhere else and the behaviour of the poiliceman was a pure expression of great tension."
