Monika Jankovská (source: Sme - Gabriel Kuchta)
New witnesses have started speaking publicly in the case of an alleged bribe taken by Justice Ministry State Secretary for the ruling Smer party, Monika Jankovská, the Sme daily wrote on May 15. Their statements confirm the version, according to which Jankovská – when working as a judge in the city of Trenčín – decided in favor of the criminal gang Čongrádyovci (named after its boss), who tried to take over control of the local Fatima bar. She is said to have taken 3,000,000 Slovak crowns (approx. €100,000) as a bribe.
These accusations were voiced on May 14 by a former accomplice of the gang, Dušan Pekara, and Tibor Jurisa. Both spoke out in public for the first time ever. Jurisa is the man whose testimony was used by Jankovská to sentence the two businesspeople who ran the Fatima bar, Ondrej Janíček and Jozef Strelčík. Since then, both have claimed that she did so based on the order of late gang boss Peter Čongrády.
The state secretary who has had her judgeship licence suspended has denied the accusation.
Suspicions and allegations
Jurisa now publicly pointed out that he had provided key testimony on which Jankovská based her verdict under police pressure. He then allegedly feared for his life, as Čongrádyovci exerted pressure on him to help them take over the Fatima. So he went to a police station but was shocked by their reaction.
“A police officer approached me and told me – either you say that Janíček and Strelčík threatened you under gunpoint, or you will be released to the streets to manage on your own,” Jurisa described, adding that this meant a huge threat from the gang.
Jankovská refused to comment on the latest claims, and stressed in her statement that Janíček and Strelčík are “three-time sentenced and accused criminals”.
Janíček was detained by the police on the morning of May 15, the Denník N daily was the first to write, citing his son. He is allegedly in pre-trial custody, investigated for the defamation of Jankovská.
“All people who falsely accuse me and spread lies publicly will face the consequences of their deeds in criminal and civil proceedings,” the state secretary said, as quoted by Sme. She added that these people summon press conferences and comment on her to create media pressure on judges who will decide on this case in the future.
The accusations of Jankovská are old; but they re-surfaced after the media received videos in which Janíček and Michal Vida, who worked for the Čongárdy gang, described the judge’s cooperation with the underworld. One week later, Vida changed his testimony and said he wanted to apologise to Jankovská for everything published. He refused to publicly state the reasons.
Currently, the Fatima bar is owned by the company of the wife of former NAKA head boss, Mária Krajmerová.
Another scandal lingering
Jankovská has had to explain her situation to already several justice ministers – Tomáš Borec (Smer nominee), Lucia Žitňanská (Most-Híd), and the current one, Gábor Gál – who commented that he perceives the case as two antagonistic claims without any evidence, and that he will wait for an effective verdict.
Jankovská is also keeping silent about another scandal, involving Radomír Bžán, who requested the exaggerated sum of €77 million for winning international arbitration for Slovakia. Monika Jankovská’s husband boasted about their family holiday in Croatia; and the photos on Facebook seem to show a garden behind the family villa of Bžán. She denied the allegation for the Sme daily, but failed to show documents proving where she spent her summer holiday (in Lukov, Croatia). Later, she stopped responding to media questions, Sme wrote.
