Sutaj Estok: I Expected Court to Reject My Motions

Bratislava, 9 December (TASR) - Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) said on Tuesday that he expected nothing other than the rejection of his motions in the dispute with a group of police officers known as the 'Curilla group', in which he had already received a default judgment after he failed to read his electronic mail, TASR reported on the same day. Commenting on the issue in response to a journalist's question at a press conference, Sutaj Estok stated that his motions were ruled on by the same judge. He added that he would file an appeal against the decision. Sutaj Estok hinted that the judge might have "aligned" himself with the police investigators' lawyer Peter Kubina. "We'll appeal to the regional court. So, in this case, a celebration is premature on the part of the 'Curilla' group," he added. Kubina announced on social media on Tuesday that Bratislava IV Municipal Court has quashed motions filed by the minister in which he sought to have electronic communications deemed invalid and to annul the default judgment in his dispute with the police officers, calling them unfounded. Based on the ruling, Sutaj Estok must apologise to the 'Curilla group' of police investigators for comparing them to convicted crime boss Mikulas Cernak. He'll also have to pay six police officers compensation totalling €90,000, as well as legal costs and late-payment interest. The minister is currently subject to distraint proceedings and that the bailiff has frozen funds in his account to cover the compensation. The minister responded to the ruling by saying that he stands by his words. jrg/df