ONE OF the biggest proceedings regarding Slovak gangland started in Banská Bystrica on January 20. The Specialised Criminal Court began to solve six murders from the era of the gangland war in the 1990s at the main trial. The defendants are also charged with founding, contriving and supporting the criminal group, the SITA newswire wrote.
Six of the seven charged men are from the criminal group Sýkorovci led by Róbert Lališ a.k.a. Kýbel, the Sme daily wrote in its January 21 issue. One of the accused has already pleaded guilty.
At the proceeding there were only four of the seven accused men: Ivan Cupper a.k.a. Vincko, Alojz Kromka a.k.a. Čistič (Cleaner), Martin Kováč and Marek Trajter. Kováč, who was allegedly doing only “related works”, pleaded guilty, while the others denied the accusations.
Lališ, who led the gang after Sýkora’s death in February 1997, escaped shortly before he was to be arrested and has been in hiding ever since. Also another from lower ranking bosses of the criminal group, Martin Bihari a.k.a. Rus (Russian), has been hiding, Sme wrote.
Another alleged member of the group, Jozef Roháč a.k.a. Potkan (Rat) has been temporarily transported to Slovakia from Hungary where he faces several charges. He however will not be present at the court and will not undergo a hearing. The judge in the case said they cannot force him to attend the proceeding, as reported by the daily.
Legal representatives of the charged men in most cases argued over the untrustworthiness of witnesses and indirect evidence. One of them is also former prosecutor Eva Mišíková who was known only a year ago as a fighter against organised crime. She now is the lawyer of Trajter, Sme wrote.
The trial will continue on January 21. The lawsuit has nearly 230 pages and the whole file more than 10,000 pages, SITA wrote.
Source: SITA, Sme
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
