Ethics Commission: Trnka Violated Prosecutor's Ethics

Banska Bystrica, July 7 (TASR) - The ethics commission of the Prosecutor's Office, which on Tuesday in Banska Bystrica discussed the request of the disciplinary commission of the Prosecutor-General's Office in proceedings against former prosecutor-general Dobroslav Trnka, adopted a unanimous opinion at the meeting, head of the ethics commission Rastislav Remeta told the media on Tuesday, adding that it found a violation of the rules of prosecutor's ethics consisting in a violation of the credibility and dignity of a prosecutor, which is regulated by their code of ethics. "The ethics commission of the Prosecutor's Office dealt with the acts as defined in the request of the disciplinary commission of the Prosecutor-General's Office in connection with the provided interview to a private television channel and the facts that were said during this recording and touched on the context and circumstances of releasing J.M. from custody," said Remeta. The disciplinary senate of the Prosecutor-General's Office in late June adjourned indefinitely proceedings against Trnka as it waited for an opinion from the ethics commission. Trnka allegedly committed a disciplinary offence by giving an interview to private television channel Markiza in October 2019. It concerned the published recording of an interview with entrepreneur Marian K. in the Gorilla case. Another reason for the prosecution is a part of an interview for the television channel on releasing entrepreneur Jozef M. from custody in 2004. Prosecutor-General Jaromir Ciznar suspended Trnka from duty on October 31, 2019, as a proposal to launch disciplinary proceedings against Trnka was filed on the same day concerning the two acts. A National Crime Agency (NAKA) investigator pressed charges against Trnka for the crime of misusing the powers of a public official in December 2019, as he failed to pass on recordings from the Gorilla case to the law-enforcement authorities. Trnka appealed against the charges in the Gorilla case at the Prosecutor-General's Office. am/mcs