Testimony against Fico: Head of Directive sunk by compro wearers

The trial of the former prime minister will act like a heavy report in every country. Robert Fico, who was accused of a crime syndicate this week by Slovak police, is also one of the most prominent figures in modern Slovak politics. He has been prime minister for almost a decade, and his Social Democrats are now competing again for the strongest party position.

Not surprisingly, Fico defends himself, saying this is an accusation of political order. However, the decision to initiate criminal proceedings, the text of which is in the List of Reports, shows that many witnesses, including those who attended the meetings, testified against the former Prime Minister.

According to investigators, Fico led the group, which provided compromising materials on possible tax crimes of his political rivals – specifically, the head of the (current government) political movement Ordinary People, Igor Matovic, and former President Andrei Kiska.

The second main defendant is Robert Kaliňák, former Minister of the Interior and former “two” of the Directive.

The accusation is based on statements from former leaders of the Slovak police and tax administration. These top officials mostly took office during the last decade of Yön’s rule and remained loyal to their political bosses at the time. But under the weight of the investigation, they talked about how they helped protect classified information, which Fico later used to harm rivals, from police and tax filings.

For example, Ľudovít Makó, the former head of the Financial Administration Criminal Division, František Imrecze, the former head of the Financial Administration, or Bernard Slobodník, the former head of the financial police, for example, testified against Fico. Based on their statements and other evidence, the police accused Fico and Kaliňák of forming a criminal organization and endangering tax secrecy.

Through their testimonies, the investigators obtained a description of a meeting that would take place, for example, at Kaliňák’s ministerial office in 2015. The meeting discussed the tax affairs of RegionPress company, which allegedly belongs to the wife of Igor Matovič, who attacked Fica harshly from the opposition at that time.

According to one of the statements at the meeting, Kaliňák called for “more information to be put together.” Fico later used the collected data in a campaign against Matovic. He became Prime Minister in 2020 and is now Finance Minister.

Similarly, Fico et al. According to testimonies, they also took action against Andrei Kisk, who defeated Fico in the direct presidential election in 2014. Relations between these politicians worsened and escalated as Kiska thwarted the chief’s plan to become a member and president of the Constitutional Court.

In retaliation to the president, Fico wanted to inquire about suspicions of tax crimes at Kisk’s family business, KTAG. The problem was that the company charged for Kisk’s presidential campaign and then applied VAT reductions.

Two prominent tax administration officials, František Imrecze and Ľudovít Makó, stated that they discussed this issue with Fic and Kaliňák at the government office at the end of 2017.

“Robert Fico and Imrecze drank wine and smoked cigars. František Imrecze put on the table a file containing the full agenda of the Fiscal Administration’s actions against KTAG. Fico immediately with them Kisk told his company what should be in the file, when he thought it was a tax evasion, a real question began to talk cheerfully, as if they had previously argued about whether there is a basis for such people become president of the republic, “the detectives wrote from the statement of Ľudovít Makó.

Fico also used this case. Slovak journalists received a tip from an anonymous email account. But further research shows that Kiska made a mistake. The prosecutor filed a criminal complaint against him this month on suspicion of tax processing in KTAG.

According to investigators, the other two accused actors, former Slovak police chief Tibor Gaspar and a businessman with close ties to the Smer party, Norbert Bödör played a key role in finding the conciliatory materials. Both have been on trial for nearly a year and a half as part of the “Purgatory” operation, which creates a kind of superstructure for the Fico and Kaliňák case.

Gašpar was forced to resign as chief of police in 2018 after the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his girlfriend, and then worked as an adviser to Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamáček for several months. According to investigators, he and Bodör managed a bribery network of police officers. Part of his operation was to find compromising materials for Fica.

Slovak police also gave testimonies of mobile reports between Bödör and Marian Kočner, who was suspected of ordering the murder of a journalist, Kuciak, but was jailed for falsifying bills of exchange. According to investigators, the communication indicates that Bödör has a close relationship with Fic and Kaliňák and is trying to harm Kiska.

Witness testimonies also showed that senior officials “earned” regular salaries by making special payment agreements with entrepreneurs historically linked to the Directive.

Fico, whose populism has escalated in recent years and has once again led Direction to the polls after moderate members left the party, denies allegations of breaking the law.

“Our opposition policy and our warning that the government has gone too far has gotten its longtime leaders in trouble. “The absurd pretext of today’s accusations is a confirmation of their utter despair,” Fico said on Wednesday.

The case investigator wants the Directive Chief to be tried in custody. But since Fico is an MP, parliament will have to decide whether to detain him. The request for extradition is made by the Attorney General.