THE SUPREME Court cancelled the verdict of the Bratislava Regional Court, based on which Štefan Harabin was to receive the financial compensation at €150,000 in damages in the so-called Sadiki case, the Sme daily reported in its November 20 issue.
This concerns a 2008 incident in which then general prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka indirectly confirmed that it had a transcript of what appeared to be a friendly telephone conversation between Harabin and convicted Kosovar drug lord Baki Sadiki, according to Sme.
The regional court issued the ruling in September 2013. The General Prosecutor’s Office, however, refused to pay the sum and submitted a special appeal to the Supreme Court. Harabin himself also submitted an appeal, Sme wrote.
“The verdict of the Bratislava Regional Court was cancelled and the case was returned for further proceeding,” the office of the Supreme Court told Sme, without specifying more details.
The court issued the ruling at a closed session, which means that the reasons will be published after the written copy is made.
The General Prosecutor’s Office did not know about the ruling and did not comment, Sme wrote.
The alleged transcript of the conversation comes from 1994, Sme wrote. In 2008 then-opposition MP Daniel Lipšic used it as an argument to dismiss Harabin from the post of the justice minister where he was nominated by the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), then a member of the governing coalition.
Harabin called the transcripts fake and submitted a lawsuit after Trnka who said that the transcript was part of the investigation file concerning Sadiki, according to Sme.
The district court approved the compensation for Harabin, but the regional court cancelled it because of the inappropriate compensation asked for by Harabin. After the changes were adopted, the Regional Court upheld the ruling.
