A well-known Bratislava-based prosecutor, identified only as Michal B., has been charged by the police with receiving a bribe in a case that also includes charges against another four people suspected of being involved, the TASR newswire reported.
The spokesman for the General Prosecutor's Office, Vladimír Ferko, told TASR that the issue falls under the remit of the Special Prosecutor's Office which will also deal with complaints made by those charged.
The spokesperson for the Police Corps Presidium, Andrea Dobiášová, said that two entrepreneurs and one attorney allegedly offered a bribe of at least €30,000 that was designed to make the concerned prosecutor arrange for a suspect be released from custody.
A Supreme Court judge identified only as Štefan M. eventually ordered the suspect's release and police are also looking into the judge's action. "We haven't received any information either from the police or from the Prosecutor's Office," said the Supreme Court's press and information department.
If convicted, the prosecutor could face a jail term of up to eight years, while the other four suspects would face up to five years. Prosecutor Michal B. made headlines in several scandals during the government led by Vladmír Mečiar (1994-98), most notably the thwarted referendum in 1997 and scandals involving unlawful bonuses that Mečiar awarded to former cabinet members.
If charges against an attorney identified only as Ladislav Š., a member of Most-Hid party are proven to be true, the party will take remedial action, the party’s press secretary, Nora Czuczorová, told TASR. The police had announced on March 18 that this attorney, formerly a Most-Hid district chief, is one the five people charged in the case.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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