Former special prosecutor Kováčik was given 14 years, his property will be forfeited – PRAVDA.sk

Former special prosecutor Dušan Kováčik is guilty of working for a criminal group of such people. Pamela Záleská, a single judge of the Specialized Criminal Court (ŠTS) in Pezinok, decided today. The defendant is also guilty of accepting 50,000 euros for the fact that the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s Office (ÚŠP) in 2017 did not file a complaint against the release of the head of such takers, Ľubomír Kudlička, from custody.

Kováčik was also found guilty by the court for the acts in which in April and August 2020, respectively, he handed over former head of tax criminals, Ľudovít Makó, information about the investigation into the extortion of businessman Pavel Konkol and the preparation of the murder of investigator Ján Čurilla. According to the judge, the team committed the crimes of establishing, conspiring and supporting a criminal group, accepting a bribe, abusing the authority of a public official and endangering a confidential and classified fact.

ŠTS sentenced Kováčik to a total 14-year unconditional sentence with a minimum degree of guarding. He also sentenced him to forfeiture of property. The decision is not yet final.

Kováčik looked up at the ceiling while making the verdict. No emotion could be read from his face.

AUDIO: Judgment in the case of Dušan Kováčik.

In various places, Kováčik, from the position of special prosecutor, was to provide information about the group of such people through Ľudovít Makó, while he was rewarded at least once for that. According to the verdict, Kováčik received 50,000 euros from Makó as a reward for not filing a complaint from the special prosecutor’s office against the release of the barefoot people of Ľubomír Kudlička.

Kováčik is also guilty in the third point of the indictment. The third indictment is the removal of parts of the investigation file for the former head of the Criminal Office of the Financial Administration, Ľudovít Makó. Already in March 2020, he knew that he was suspected of corruption and had to ask a special prosecutor for help.

According to the last, fourth point of the indictment, in the summer of 2020, Kováčik helped Makó get rid of suspicions of preparing for the murder of the investigator of the National Criminal Agency, Ján Čurill, by carrying out confidential information.

Betrayal from within

“There was no reversal in the evidentiary proceedings, the judge stated. “The court adds with full seriousness that the cooperating accused is an institution that is familiar with our Criminal Procedure Code. It did not appear yesterday or the day before yesterday, but it has been used for several years. This is not exceptional or revolutionary. We already have experience with that, “said the judge.

“There are only two ways to expose the activities of a criminal group. One is to infiltrate the agent into the group. However, it is a dangerous, lengthy activity. That clearly did not happen in this case. The second way to detect and prosecute a group of people is to betray someone from within. This has consequences that are unflattering to such a person. There is basically no other way to detect, prosecute and punish the activities of a criminal group, “she explained.

We are updating the report.

Hearings at the Specialized Criminal Court in Pezinok began on Monday at four o’clock after lunch.

According to the indictment, Kováčik helped the boss of the Bratislava mafia group of such people, Ľubomír Kudliček, to be released from custody for 50 thousand euros. Following the acceptance of the financial guarantee by the Specialized Criminal Court on 18 July 2017, the case no longer went to the Supreme Court.

The prosecutor’s office allegedly did not file a complaint against Kováčikov’s instruction against the 100,000 euro deposit. He was also supposed to bring classified information to the then head of the Criminal Office of the Financial Administration, Ľudovít Makó.

The verdict was expected last Friday, September 17, when the closing speeches were also delivered. “It has been sufficiently proven beyond any doubt that the acts took place as described in the indictment and were committed by the accused Kováčik,” the prosecutor of the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, Michal Šúrek, began his closing speech.

Read more Kováčik still has to wait for the verdict, the prosecutor is asking for 13 years for him

“All witnesses heard at the suggestion of the prosecutor’s office confirmed the indictment,” he said. “On the basis of the above, I propose that the defendant be found guilty,” the prosecutor said before the end of his closing speech. The court asked for a sentence in the upper limit of the penalty rate, at least 13 years behind bars and forfeiture of property.

Kováčik continued to insist on his innocence. “My belief that I am innocent gives me strength. That is why I can stand here as an innocent and proud person who only asks for justice, “Dušan Kováčik emphasized in his closing speech.

“Someone needed to get rid of me. I don’t have to say who. It’s awful what’s going on here. I am ashamed of what is happening in the prosecutor’s office. I would never go back there. Based on such an evidentiary situation to propose 13 years, I would be ashamed. And everyone who invented them is free, “Kováčik emphasized at the end of his closing speech.

Four deeds

The indictment of the prosecutor of the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, Michal Šúrek, to Kováčik involves four offenses. The first is cooperation with a criminal group of such people. “At least since the summer of 2017, Kováčik, accused as a special prosecutor, provided information on ongoing criminal proceedings and engaged in activities that made it at least difficult to document the group’s criminal activity and aimed to preserve the group’s existence and integrity,” the prosecutor read in the first indictment.

The second point of the indictment is the acceptance of a bribe of 50 thousand euros from the summer of 2017 “as a reward for his intervention in relation to the failure to file a complaint of release from custody.”

The third indictment is the removal of parts of the investigation file for the former head of the Makó Financial Administration Criminal Office. Already in March 2020, he knew that he was suspected of corruption and had to ask a special prosecutor for help.

Therefore, Kováčik “handed over parts of the file material, thus acting with the intention of enabling the accused Makó to implement measures in time to cover up his possible criminal activity and prevent its detection,” prosecutor Šúrek continued.

According to the last, fourth point of the indictment, in the summer of 2020, Kováčik helped Makó get rid of suspicions of preparing for the murder of the investigator of the National Criminal Agency, Ján Čurill, by carrying out confidential information.