A MEMBER OF the Sýkora Gang, Richard Rakický, will spend 12 years in prison for his membership in the organised crime group and murder of Róbert Pál back in November 2003. The sentence comes following a plea bargain that Rakický, nicknamed Riki, cut with a prosecutor at the Special Prosecutor’s Office.
“The plea deal was then approved by the Specialised Criminal Court on July 28 and is now valid,” court’s spokeswoman Katarína Kudjáková told the TASR newswire.
The story was first reported by investigative journalist Júlia Mikolášiková on her blog.
Besides Rakický, the investigator pressed charges over the same murder last October against three more people, including the gang’s ringleader referred to as Róbert L. (nicknamed Kýbel, or ‘Bucket’ in English), Martin Bihári (nicknamed ‘Russian’) and Juraj H. (‘Darling’). The charges were imposed following the testimony of Jurij F. (or ‘Little Russian’), who was reportedly also involved in the crime, TASR wrote.
Róbert L., charged with at least 10 murders, and Bihári, sentenced to 21 years, are on the run. Jurij F. a Juraj H. are in custody pending trial, with police believing that they are behind more crimes.
The Sýkora mob is named after its erstwhile boss, Miroslav Sýkora, who was shot dead in a parking lot outside the Holiday Inn hotel in Bratislava in 1997, TASR wrote.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
