A police inspector has ruled there is sufficient evidence to prosecute officer Matej Varga for sabotage, accusing him of fabricating suspicions against the country’s general prosecutor, Maroš Žilinka, and his deputy, Jozef Kandera, reports Denník N.
Varga is alleged to have instructed colleagues in 2022 to open an investigation into Žilinka and Kandera without credible grounds. The case is politically charged: at the time, the Special Prosecutor’s Office charged Robert Fico, now prime minister, for alleged abuse of power. Varga has argued that his suspicions of Žilinka and Kandera being influenced were serious enough to justify action. In the end, it was the Special Prosecutor’s Office – not Žilinka’s office – that sought parliament’s approval to hold Fico in custody. Varga did not pursue the operational investigation any further.
Parliament rejected the Special Prosecutor’s Office request, and within months Žilinka’s office dropped the charges altogether.
Inspector Peter Dubovický based his decision largely on testimony from two former officials of the National Crime Agency (NAKA), Róbert Hrušovský and Róbert Bučko, who said Varga had pressed for the investigation. Both men signed the order, though Hrušovský later described the move as “preventive” and outside normal practice. Varga himself did not sign any order.
But it is not Hrušovský or Bučko who face prosecution – it is Varga.
Despite Varga’s complaint that the charge against him is unlawful, Dubovický has rejected his appeal. A regional prosecutor has also expressed doubts that Varga’s actions amounted to a crime, but these were dismissed. Dubovický went further, formally designating Žilinka, Kandera and Fico as victims in the case – a decision that allowed Fico’s lawyers early access to the files, before Varga himself had seen them.
Questions have also been raised by the timing: Varga’s operational investigation was launched and quickly closed in 2022, yet charges against Varga were only brought three years later.
