Regional Court in Vienna Examining If Misenka Has Austrian Citizenship

Bratislava/Vienna, July 6 (TASR) - The Regional Court in Vienna is currently examining whether convicted Slovak criminal Viliam Misenka, who was detained by the Austrian police last Thursday (July 2) in Baden near Vienna, is also an Austrian citizen, the court's vice-president Christina Salzborn told TASR on Monday. "He [Misenka] believes and states that he also has Austrian citizenship. This must be proven, which means that more detailed information on the extradition proceedings isn't yet available," said the vice-president, adding that updated information should be available by the end of this month Misenka has been in custody since Saturday (July 4) in view of handing him over to the Slovak authorities. This decision was made by the Regional Court in Vienna. Misenka was arrested on the street at about 3.15 p.m. last Thursday on the basis of a European arrest warrant. He didn't resist, spokesman for the Austrian Federal Criminal Office Vincenz Kriegs told TASR on Friday (July 3). Misenka was sentenced to 23 years in prison by the Supreme Court in March 2018 regarding an explosion at a company called Euromont based in Topolcany (Nitra district) that took place in the summer of 2009. One person was killed in the blast and others suffered serious and minor injuries. Misenka wasn't present at the Supreme Court to hear the verdict. The police subsequently announced that he was on the run and that they were searching for him. This was the second time that the police have had to look for Misenka. He went on the lam once before, but was tracked down in Venezuela in 2013 and escorted back to Slovakia, where he spent almost two years in custody. In the past he's also been charged with a number of homicides and with a major bank robbery in 1996, but the courts were unable to prove his guilt. am/df