39-hour Gorilla Case Recording Appears on Internet, Penta Questions It
Bratislava, October 16 (TASR) – Several media outlets in Slovakia have received an email containing a link to a 39-hour-long recording that allegedly relates to the Gorilla case, TASR learnt on Wednesday.
The recording was allegedly made at a flat on Vazovova Street in Bratislava. Gorilla case details were leaked by an anonymous person in December 2011. The contents stirred up a wave of protests and criticism of the people and the financial group mentioned in the materials. The law-enforcement authorities stated in the past that the evidence doesn’t allow investigators to press charges against a specific person(s) despite its extent.
Financial group Penta co-owner Jaroslav Hascak’s voice is allegedly among those captured on the recording. Penta has stated that it will take legal action regarding this case.
“Any recordings of this kind, irrespective of their origin, are illegal material and can’t be published and used. The way in which the [editorial] desks received the alleged recordings bears the obvious hallmarks of criminal activities, and that’s why we’re filing a criminal complaint,” reads Penta’s statement. According to the group, the recordings that have been published recently are most likely manipulated and thus lack credibility.
The Gorilla case concerns recordings of conversations between Hascak and several politicians regarding commissions from state-related business in 2005 and 2006. The case text mentions names such as former economy minister Jirko Malcharek, former executive committee chair of the National Property Fund Anna Bubenikova as well as erstwhile prime minister Robert Fico.
“There is no such a transaction via which Penta stole a single crown from Slovak taxpayers. The investigation team has had enough resources and capacities to investigate all the transactions mentioned in the Gorilla case and to come to conclusions,” stated Penta.
The recording was found in a house of controversial entrepreneur Marian K. by the police in 2018. Former head of the Gorilla investigation team Lukas Kyselica confirmed its authenticity for several media.
Penta has questioned this confirmation. “We demand, for the sake of credibility, that the competent authorities should publish a full expert analysis of the recordings that former investigator Lubos Kyselica spoke about. We seriously doubt that the expert analysis could convincingly rebut suspicions that the recordings might have been tampered with,” stated Penta.
The financial group claimed that when modern technologies are considered, no way of creating and deliberately adjusting any audio recording can be practically excluded. “Especially if it’s obvious that various people with dubious intentions illegally tamper with such recordings.”
Penta stated regarding the investigation into the Gorilla case that it’s in the public interest for the investigation to show whether, for example, Penta used illegal methods 14 years ago in order to promote its interests and whether its activities have cost Slovak taxpayers. “We’ve provided a great deal of information on this over the past eight years. The information is published in concentrated form on www.kauzagorilla.sk.
“The Constitutional Court called the alleged actions of the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS), known as the Gorilla case, illegal. Its ruling from November 2012 clearly states that any state authority that has recordings of this alleged wiretapping at its disposal is obliged to destroy them,” stated Penta. It added that the Constitutional Court ruling clearly states that the authorities that carried out the eavesdropping in the flat on Vazovova Street were lying to the Court and made up reasons for the eavesdropping as well as the very people who were supposed to be wiretapped. “This is criminal activity, never mind a credible base for criminal proceedings,” stated Penta.
