Police in Levice, Juraj C.'s hometown. (source: TASR/AP)
The video in which Juraj C., the man who shot and injured Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) on May 15 in Handlová, presents his political views, was filmed by a member of the Office for the Protection of Public Figures and Diplomatic Missions. The member then forwarded it to his superiors, claims former police chief Štefan Hamran.
According to the Denník N daily, his name is Juraj F. He might also have taken a picture of the attacker’s identification card, which later appeared on social media, the daily writes.
“I’m not surprised that the video could have been leaked,” Hamran said.
Hamran, believed to have been sacked from the top job by Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas) last October in order to end corruption investigations leading to previous Smer governments, is running in the European elections on the Demokrati party’s slate.
The Interior Ministry’s Police Inspectorate is investigating how the video made it to social media.
According to Denník N, Juraj F. has confessed to making the video but refuted posting it online. The video first appeared online on the anti-Ukrainian Slovenský Medveď (Slovak Bear) page on Facebook. Juraj F. may have violated the rules in place, as well as the attacker’s rights, by making the video.
The video is illegal evidence since it was made outside the official investigation.
“The police should have taken all steps to ensure that such a video did not leak, instead of steps to publish such a video - apparently edited on purpose,” said Hamran, noting that some politicians have been using the video to present the motive of the attacker as a fait accompli. “That’s what an investigation is for.”
Eštok initially claimed that Juraj C. had acted alone. Later, Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák (Smer) and the interior minister said that someone might have helped the attacker, because his communication on social media had been deleted by the time the police searched his house. Both said right after the attack that it was a politically motivated act.
Who should go?
The Office for the Protection of Public Figures and Diplomatic Missions is helmed by Pavol Krejčí of the Hlas party. The body has faced criticism for failing to protect the prime minister in Handlová, chaos, and making unnecessary mistakes. However, Šutaj Eštok has defended Krejčí.
“He [Krejčí] was with the prime minister. His whole suit was covered in blood,” the minister said.
Slovensko party leader and former premier Igor Matovič called on the minister to resign after the attack.
Nevertheless, a SCIO poll shows that he should not. As much as 57.1 percent of respondents think that he should stay. Conversely, Krejčí should step down, according 63 percent of respondents. The SCIO agency also asked people why they think Slovak society is polarised. “Coalition voters blame the opposition and vice versa,” said the agency’s co-founder and former politician Martin Klus. In addition to politicians, people blame the media (44.1 percent), disinformation media (36.6 percent) and social media (26.5 percent). “Here, too, the division of society into opposition and coalition fans is obvious.” The poll was conducted between May 17 and 20.
Delayed search warrant
Another problem in the case of the suspected assassination attempt is why the police searched the flat of Juraj C. two days after the attack. Šutaj Eštok and police chief Ľubomír Solák told the media to pose this question to Judge Roman Púchovský of the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok.
Púchovský sent Juraj C. into pre-trial custody. The attacker confessed to the judge.
The court did not comment on the case.
Even if it is true that Juraj C.’s communication on social media had been deleted two hours after the attack, as claimed by some of the ministers, the police would not have probably obtained a search warrant. But as the Sme daily notes, other things might have been removed from the flat in two days.
