Matovic Wants to Know Action Taken by Police in Danko's Crash Step-by-step

Bratislava, January 16 (TASR) - The opposition 'Slovakia' party called on the Interior Ministry and police chief Lubomir Solak to reveal what actions have the police taken in case of House Vice-chair Andrej Danko's (SNS) car crash step-by-step, TASR learnt on Tuesday. According to 'Slovakia' party chair Igor Matovic, police tracked down Danko and approached his house in the moment when his garage door was closing. "Danko was out in the street, apparently in the middle of entering his house and opening the door. One of the police officers got out of the car and Danko, evidently under the influence of alcohol, told them to get lost immediately," said Matovic. Subsequently, the officers were knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell, but no one opened. "There wasn't anything else for the police officers to do. They couldn't enter the domicile without a court order. We want to know what happened in the next fifteen hours," stated ex-interior minister (2020-23) and MP Roman Mikulec ('Slovakia'). Mikulec demands to know whether the case was filed in and whether they informed their superior about it. Fifteen hours after the crash, it was pointless to make Danko take a breathalyser test, pointed out Mikulec, adding that blood tests could have revealed whether Danko had drunk alcohol before the accident. "It would be unfair, after various conspiracy theories and stories have been circulating, for either the Interior Minister or the Police Corps President to let this all fall on rank-and-file officers who were only doing their jobs. I trust that they did their jobs honestly," he said. Matovic claimed that his party had detailed information about Danko's accident already on Friday (January 12) and was waiting to see the response from the Interior Ministry and the police. "At the moment, it appears that someone was covering up for Danko for fifteen hours and for fifteen hours Danko was very actively avoiding the police, who were even searching for him in Parliament," claimed Matovic. The traffic accident occurred late on Thursday (January 11) in the Bratislava borough of Dubravka. According to his own account, Danko's car lost adhesion, skidded across the lane and crashed into a traffic light. Danko didn't wait for the arrival of a police patrol and left. Police later confirmed that he took a breathalyser test on Friday at noon, fifteen hours after the accident, and tested negative for alcohol. Danko apologised for the incident and declared that he will pay for the damage. The police approach has caught flak from the opposition, which finds it scandalous that a breathalyser test was performed only a day after the crash. mf/mcs