Bratislava Court Rejects Indictment Against Curilla Group Over Procedural Flaws

Bratislava, 10 February (TASR) – The Bratislava I City Court on Monday (9 February) rejected an indictment filed against police officers Jan C. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons] and others, citing serious shortcomings in the pre-trial proceedings and a violation of the right to defence, attorney Peter Kubina reported on social media on Tuesday. The court thus upheld objections raised by the defence immediately after the indictment had been delivered. "The court's decision to reject this indictment is a major satisfaction for us and a confirmation that the defence acted throughout the proceedings exactly as required by law. This is how it ends when criminal prosecution is conducted with the aim of prosecuting the accused at any cost, while ignoring the law, evidence and justified defence objections," Kubina stated. According to the attorney, the judge identified a problem in the fact that the criminal prosecution was initiated, charges were brought and the investigation was subsequently conducted by a biased investigator who should have been excluded from the case. Despite several opportunities and repeated objections by the defence, the prosecution failed to remedy these shortcomings. Oversight, Kubina added, was exercised by a prosecutor who was also likely biased, but the court was unable to review this aspect due to the incompleteness of the case file. "This flaw means that evidence obtained during the investigation by a biased investigator is procedurally unusable, and all decisions issued by that investigator, including the resolution on initiating criminal prosecution and bringing charges, are unlawful," Kubina noted. As these decisions can no longer be annulled under any current legal provision – such options existed only at earlier stages of the proceedings, up to six months after charges were brought – the shortcomings identified by the court are no longer removable by any lawful means, he said. This, according to Kubina, can lead only to one conclusion: that the criminal prosecution will have to be discontinued. "Our further procedural steps will therefore be directed towards achieving this result, and we will inform about them at an appropriate time," Kubina added. The court's decision was also confirmed to TASR by Pavol Adamciak, spokesperson for the Bratislava Regional Court. "In the criminal case of the accused J. C. and others, the court decided by resolution on 9 February 2026 in one of the ways provided for under Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code," Adamciak said, adding that information on the specific form of the decision and further details can be provided only after the court has proof of its delivery to the parties to the proceedings. The indictment against seven police investigators, known as the ‘Curilla group’, was filed with the Bratislava City Court by a prosecutor of the Trnava Regional Prosecutor's Office in mid-July 2024 for the crime of misuse of power by a public official and other offences. mf