Justice Ministry: ECHR Rejected Former Special Prosecutor Dusan K.'s Complaint

Bratislava, 22 April (TASR) - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has rejected the complaint filed by ex-special prosecutor Dusan K. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons] against the Slovak Republic as ill-founded, Alexandra Szakalova from the Justice Ministry's press department confirmed for TASR on Wednesday after the case was first reported by Dennik N daily. She added that the complaint was declared inadmissible by the ECHR. "We can confirm that, on 5 February 2026, the European Court of Human Rights publicly announced its decision regarding the case of Kovacik v. Slovakia, as adopted on 15 January 2026 by a committee of three judges," specified Szakalova. She added that the ministry only possesses the information stated in the ECHR's decision. In his complaint, Dusan K. claimed a breach of his rights because the prosecution service filed an indictment in the corruption case before the prosecutor-general (PG) had determined Dusan K.'s request that the PG should exercise his discretionary powers under Article 363 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to declare the charges void. The applicant argued that by filing an indictment against him with a court, the prosecutor had deprived him of the possibility of having recourse to an extraordinary remedy determined by the PG in relation to the charges against him. In its decision, the ECHR stressed that the prosecution service is not a judicial authority and that, due to the filing of an indictment, Dusan K. was indeed provided with access to a court, in particular the Specialised Criminal Court, which had the jurisdiction to deal with any factual or legal aspect of the accusations. The ECHR explained that a person whose request for the PG's discretionary powers to be exercised remains undetermined as a result of an indictment being filed is not deprived of legal protection. The responsibility for providing such protection is merely shifted to the judiciary. The court found no indication that this course of action compromised the overall fairness of the criminal proceedings. Furthermore, in the present case, Dusan K. had also been unsuccessful before the Slovak Constitutional Court in 2022. Former special prosecutor Dusan K. faced two corruption cases, both involving a bribe of €50,000. In the first case, he was accused of accepting a bribe from former 'Takacovci' mob boss Lubomir Kudlicka in return for arranging the latter's release from custody. Although Dusan K. was lawfully sentenced to eight years in prison in 2022, the Supreme Court overturned this verdict due to procedural errors and judicial bias. In 2024, Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD) suspended his sentence after an appeal was filed. In the second case, according to the prosecution, the ex-special prosecutor received a bribe of €50,000 in a specially modified book in 2016 in exchange for blocking prosecutions in two criminal cases. The Specialised Criminal Court found Dusan K. guilty, but decided not to hand down any additional punishment. The defendant appealed against the verdict and it is now up to the Supreme Court to decide on the matter. jrg/df