Pavol Rusko (source: TASR)
A Bratislava court has acquitted Pavol Rusko, Slovakia’s former economy minister and ex-head of commercial broadcaster Markíza, in a long-running case over alleged misuse of funds at a non-profit organisation.
The decision by the Bratislava Regional Court is final. Rusko, 61, was not present in court when the verdict was delivered, according to SITA.
The case centred on Maják nádeje (Lighthouse of Hope), a charity co-founded in 2002 by Bratislava’s Old Town district and the Markíza Foundation. Prosecutors alleged that in 2015, while serving as the charity’s director, Rusko diverted more than €100,000 earmarked for an asylum centre to finance a stage musical, “Romeo and Juliet”. Rusko denied wrongdoing.
He was initially found guilty of subsidy fraud by Bratislava’s first-instance court in 2023, though the court refrained from imposing an additional sentence given his existing convictions. The regional court later overturned that verdict, citing insufficient evidence and procedural shortcomings, and returned the case for retrial.
In March this year, the Bratislava I District Court cleared Rusko, ruling that the alleged conduct did not constitute a criminal offence. Prosecutors appealed, but the regional court has now upheld the acquittal.
Rusko remains a highly controversial figure in Slovak public life. Once a prominent media executive and cabinet member, he is already serving a 19-year prison sentence for his role in the fraudulent creation of €69 million worth of television promissory notes, a case that also ensnared fraudster Marián Kočner.
