A MAN from Poprad who flew to Dublin with high explosive in his luggage after it had been out there without his knowledge by police wants Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák not to publish the amount he is to receive as compensation for the inconvenience he experienced, the TASR newswire reported.
“I’m holding talks with the ministry on this matter and, as I wish to have my privacy protected, I’ve asked minister Kaliňák not to inform the public about the amount of compensation,” Štefan Gonda, an electrician, wrote in a statement for the media, quoted by the TASR newswire.
Ninety grammes of explosive were in Gonda’s luggage when he arrived in Dublin on a Danube Wings flight that left Poprad on January 2. Police at Poprad Airport had hidden explosives in the luggage of several unsuspecting passengers as part of a security operation. However, a package of explosive was stuck in the straps of Gonda’s bag and was not removed before he boarded the plane.
The 49-year-old man was later arrested in Ireland but then released without charge. Gonda has recently started talking to the media and has confirmed the interior minister’s claim that the explosive was not inside his luggage but rather stuck on the straps of his rucksack.
“I checked my backpack and after a while found a small plastic bag with a grey substance in the straps in the lumbar area,” Gonda said, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
