BRATISLAVA, September 29, (WEBNOVINY) — The case of Hedviga Malinova from August 2006 has to be immediately closed so that at least partially the mistakes that the authorities made are corrected, stated Interior Minister Daniel Lipsic (KDH) on Thursday, adding that it was unacceptable that the Office of Prosecutor General investigates a matter classified as false testimony for five years. „Whether someone is suspected of a criminal deed or harmed by it, whether they say the truth or lie, everyone has the right to have the matter closed within a reasonable period of time without any political or other games played around it,” the minister added. According to him, the former leadership of the Prosecutor General’s Office is responsible for the protracted investigation this case. Lipsic restated his opinion that the whole case was politicized by former Prime Minister Robert Fico and his Interior Minister Robert Kalinak.
The minister did not want to comment on the Cabinet’s decision, which according to the SME daily voted in a closed session that the Slovak Republic is to officially apologize to Hedviga Malinova. „I find it absurd that after a closed session with fifteen Cabinet members, everyone knows within five minutes what the material is about and how everyone voted,” Lipsic noted.
The case is stuck at the General Prosecutor’s Office due to an expert opinion of Dean of the Medical Faculty of the Comenius University Peter Labas, who questions that Malinova was at all attacked. She, however, allegedly twice passed an unofficial polygraph test.
According to the SME daily, the Cabinet on Wednesday accepted an agreement with Malinova based on which she would withdraw her lawsuit from the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg and will not demand compensation from the state in exchange for a public apology. Malinova sued Slovakia due to errors in the investigation of her case, due to which her constitutional rights to a fair trial were violated. Before the beginning of the trial the court asked both sides whether they are willing to reconcile and they ultimately agreed. Justice Minister Lucia Zitnanska and Malinova’s lawyer Roman Kvasnica signed an out-of-court settlement that is to be sent to Strasbourg. The case from August 25, 2006 is still pending. The police have stopped the investigation of the attack on Malinova in the same year. However, she still faces charges of false testimony. The Prosecutor General Office is still dealing with this accusation after the police said that Malinova made up her story that she was beaten for speaking Hungarian on her mobile phone. Ex-minister of Interior Robert Kalinak who accused Malinova of having lied shortly after she reported the attack to the police says it is unacceptable that somebody wants to apologize to a person whose lies drew Slovakia into great problems.
SITA