Kácečko entrance. (source: SME - Marko Erd)
As revellers danced to Rihanna’s hit “We Found Love” at Kácečko, one of Bratislava’s most popular nightclubs, the mood soured when Slovak and foreign partygoers found themselves facing a police raid in mid-summer.
The August 3 operation sparked outrage, not over its motives—initially unclear—but over how it unfolded. It took over a week for the Financial Administration, Slovakia’s tax authority, to admit it had initiated the raid. Other forces, including the Foreigners’ Police, Bratislava Regional Police, Municipal Police, and Criminal Police, assisted. The raid aimed to check for violations such as failure to issue receipts and illegal drug activity. Four individuals were charged with drug offences, while municipal officers monitored underage drinking.
“The police acted within the law,” the Slovak police maintained weeks later. However, body cameras—standard equipment for the municipal police in Bratislava but not yet for the national force—captured a scene that many describe as excessive. According to Igor Fomenko, a Ukrainian who was at the club with Dutch friends, the officers’ behaviour was aggressive.
“All visitors were told to line up and put their hands against the wall,” Fomenko told The Slovak Spectator. “I saw them hit a Slovak woman who talked back to them. We were terrified.” He added that officers also mistreated his friend until they realised she was a foreigner. “They told us to empty our pockets. I asked one officer something, and he yelled at me [in Slovak], ‘Stupid bitch! Don’t ask questions!’ People were crying, no one was allowed to use the toilet for two and a half hours. It was brutal.”
More light on the police conduct during the Kácečko raid might come from an investigation by the police inspectorate, which falls under the Interior Ministry. The entire operation was recorded by municipal police officers wearing body cameras.
Fomenko also recalled a previous police raid at Alchymista, another venue in Bratislava’s Old Town, where, he said, officers were “respectful” in their approach. However, it was alleged that 16-year-old children were also beaten with batons during the raid.
Kácečko and its exterior. (source: SME - Marko Erd)
