Criminal Complaint Over Sutaj Estok's Trip to F1 Race Dismissed

Bratislava, May 7 (TASR) - The police have dismissed a criminal complaint concerning Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok's (Voice-SD) trip to the Formula 1 (F1) race in Abu Dhabi, the Let's Stop Corruption Foundation, which filed the complaint, reported to TASR on Wednesday. The foundation also announced that it would appeal against the decision and request that the prosecutor's office should review the police's handling of the case. "The investigator considered it sufficient to question the interior minister alone. He didn't carry out any of the evidential procedures that we proposed. We believe that the investigator didn't properly investigate this criminal matter," stated the foundation's lawyer Lubomir Danko. The foundation filed the complaint on suspicions of undue advantages related to Sutaj Estok's trip. According to them, the minister admitted during questioning that he didn't pay for the race tickets. In addition, the foundation pointed to other unclear aspects of the case and believes that the investigation did not dispel suspicions of corruption. "The minister clearly failed to prove that the luxury trip was not a gift from someone, which, in the case of a public official, creates a conflict of interest," added the foundation's director Zuzana Petkova. Back in December, Sutaj Estok stated that he paid for the trip to Abu Dhabi from his own funds, despite the fact it also included meetings on cooperation. He said that he was invited to the event by president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) Mohamed bin Sulayem. mf/df