Zilinka: The 'Cooperating Defendant' Case Reassigned to Different Prosecutor

Bratislava, 17 March (TASR) - The 'Cooperating Defendant' case will be reassigned from the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Trnava to the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Banska Bystrica, Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka decided on Tuesday. At the same time, the Trnava Regional Prosecutor will assess whether the subordinate prosecutor who had handled the case so far may have breached official duties in a way that could give rise to disciplinary liability, Zilinka announced in his social media post. As part of Operation Cooperating Defendant, the Internal Affairs Inspectorate on 3 March detained and charged four serving and two former police officers, along with one prosecutor, who had investigated and prosecuted high-profile corruption cases in the past. They face charges of extortion and misuse of power by a public official, allegedly committed in an organised manner. The original prosecutor filed a motion to remand Jan C. and Pavel D. [names abbreviated due to legal reasons] in custody. On 6 March, the Bratislava I City Court released the two police officers from detention. It justified its decision by stating that the prosecutor had filed the motion for custody with a court lacking jurisdiction. The judge also questioned the justification of the charges and the stated grounds for detention. The prosecutor lodged a complaint against this decision. On Monday (16 March), the Bratislava Regional Court ruled on the complaint and dismissed it, confirming the lower court's reasoning that the motion had been filed with a court lacking jurisdiction. However, the regional court did not examine the grounds for custody. mf