Police Deny Media Reports of Suspect Detained in Ferencak Assault Case

Bratislava, 27 April (TASR) - Information about the detention of a person suspected of assaulting Independent MP and mayor of Kezmarok (Presov region) Jan Ferencak, published by some media, isn't true, the Police Corps Presidium's communications department has confirmed for TASR. "With regards to actions that are currently being carried out by the law-enforcement authorities, it isn't possible to provide more detailed information on individual procedural steps or on specific people at this stage. For this reason, we won't comment on media reports concerning the questioning of particular individuals or the content of their statements," said the police. Ferencak said on JOJ 24's discussion programme 'Politika 24' (Politics 24) on Sunday (26 April) that he was physically assaulted on Saturday (25 April) in the presence of his daughter when an unknown attacker struck him in the head. According to Ferencak, the attacker was a well-built man who assaulted him from behind. The Presov Regional Police later confirmed that a Kezmarok investigator has launched an criminal investigation into the suspicion of assault on a public official and disorderly conduct. They specified that late on Saturday (25 April) evening the operations officer of the Regional Directorate of the Police Corps in Presov received a report via an emergency line that an unknown individual had physically assaulted Jan F. at the ice-hockey stadium in Kezmarok. A police patrol was dispatched to the scene to verify the report. ko/df