THE SUPREME Court handed down tough sentences to four members of the Sýkorovci gang. They were sent to prison after the Supreme Court upheld the earlier verdicts of the Specialised Penal Court in Pezinok, the TASR newswire reported.
Martin Bihári, nicknamed Rus, who is still on the run, was sentenced to 21 years in prison, while František Kukka was given 13 years, Alexander Botló 22 years and Ivica Kostrič eight years.
“They were beating people at discos, they walked around Senec with machine guns, police were doing nothing about it,” the chair of the senate said when delivering the verdict, as quoted by TASR. “The fight with the state cannot be won, maybe that was possible in the 1990s. They must have reckoned that it would end one day, just as the Piťovci and other Bratislava groups finished.”
The men were accused of 10 crimes altogether. Originally the Pezinok court tried them for 14 crimes, including membership in a criminal group, racketeering, fraud and carrying fire arms without valid permits. The prosecution claims the group was forcing businesses to pay them for protection and was involved with trading fake highway stickers.
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Source: TASR
Compiled by Michaela Terenzani from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
