THE REASONS for accusing Hedviga Malinová of perjury appear to have been fabricated, according to the Slovak Helsinki Committee.
“We are convinced that the proceeding cannot end other than by liberating Mrs Malinová,” reads the statement of the committee, as quoted by the SITA newswire. “We call on the criminal authorities and respective courts to prudently and objectively assess and evaluate all available proof separately as well as in their mutual relations.”
The response came after the General Prosecutor’s Office ended on April 4 its investigation of the case, in which Malinová (who has since married and now goes by the surname Žáková), an ethnic Hungarian, claimed she had been assaulted in Nitra back in August 2006 after being overheard speaking Hungarian in public, and charged her with perjury.
The police released their findings in September 2006, at a press conference by then interior minister Robert Kaliňák and then prime minister Robert Fico (both of whom currently hold the same positions), with Kaliňák stating “it is beyond doubt that the case did not happen”. He presented several pieces of evidence that he said backed his claim, including DNA samples. Kaliňák later went on to denounce Malinová as a “pathological liar”. Malinová was charged in May 2007 with perjury and making false claims.
Malinová has meanwhile relocated to the Hungarian town of Győr, after she requested and received Hungarian citizenship at the end of 2013.
The members of the Slovak Helsinki Committee also said that they are concerned when they see “a sharp contrast between a hesitating and slow investigation, precipitated politicised conclusions and serious procedural mistakes during the investigation of the attack on one hand, and between inexhaustible energy devoted to proving her alleged false witness on the other hand”, as cited by SITA.
Kálmán Petőcz, chair of the Slovak Helsinki Committee, expressed his deep grief and disappointment over General Prosecutor Jaromír Čižnár not using the opportunity to stop the prosecution of Malinová, and instead continuing her harassment and intimidation, SITA wrote.
Malinová has become a symbol of resistance against injustice and the fight for truth, the committee claimed.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
