News item: STV television station reports that Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák cited 'evidence' that was not in the police case file in disputing the claim by ethnic Hungarian student Hedviga Malinová to have been beaten up by extremists on August 25.
Smell remains in Malinová case
By Alexander Buzinkay
The Malinová case could be the plot of a political thriller, but it would be one without an ending or an answer to the main question - who profited the most from it, and what really happened?
The newest findings of discrepancies between the case file and the statements of politicians, as well as other doubts that the investigation did not resolve highlight the fact that we don't have an answer to this main question.
So, here's a hypothesis: Let's say someone convinced a young girl who didn't realize the consequences of her actions to take part in a game according to a script. It was enough then to sit back and let the police do their work, and when they finally found that the case was a hoax, those who planned it came forward and won public opinion to their sides with convincing arguments, scoring an almost complete victory. Nothing happened, it was just a crude attempt to smear Slovakia. Malinová is a liar.
It is up to each thinking person to decide who profited the most from this case in the tense domestic and international situation in which it occurred.
But if nothing actually happened, then who beat up Hedviga Malinová? Photographs and doctors confirm that she was injured. Who is behind it all? Many questions without answers, which is another reason the case must be pursued to the end. It's not enough to shelve the investigation and reject the complaints of the plaintiff.
The case has to be reopened, even if it means charging Malinová, in order to put the doubts to rest and to let the truth be known. Otherwise a smell will remain about this case, a smell that is all too familiar to us from other infamously unsolved cases in the past.
