Police chief Štefan Hamran on August 17, 2023. (source: TASR - Jakub Kotian)
Almost a week after the police charged three men, including ex-police chief and Smer politician Tibor Gašpar and oligarch Norbert Bödör, with corruption and organised crime, more men followed suit on Thursday morning.
As part of the Unravelling (Rozuzlenie) police operation, the police charged the current head of the Slovak Information Service (SIS), Michal Aláč, his predecessor Vladimír Pčolinský (who is already facing a corruption charge in another case), entrepreneur Peter “X” Košč with links to SIS (alleged head of the organised crime group), and former National Crime Agency (NAKA) investigator Ján Kaľavský. Kaľavský is hiding in Bosnia. In July, he was convicted of corruption. The verdict is invalid due to appeals. Ex-SIS member Martin Ciriak was also charged on August 17. Ciriak and two police investigators from the Interior Ministry’s police inspectorate were, moreover, detained (and released later).
Some of the charged men are currently on holiday and business trips.
The charges read that the men were allegedly members of the organised crime group. They were supposed to sabotage the investigation of corruption cases, said police chief Štefan Hamran. The obstruction of justice and the abuse of power by a public official were added to the list of criminal charges as well.
