Commission: Former Police Chief Lucansky Committed Suicide
Bratislava, April 16 (TASR) – The investigation of a special commission into the death of former national police chief Milan Lucansky in custody in late 2020 has concluded that he committed suicide, said commission chairman Tomas Citbaj from the Ombudswoman’s Office on Friday.
“The commission didn’t find anything that would challenge information presented in the media by the justice minister [Maria Kolikova] and former general director of the Prison and Justice Guards [Milan Ivan] that the cause of Mr. Lucansky’s death was self-inflicted harm, more specifically a suicide attempt,” said Citbaj.
He said that the commission based its scrutiny on materials provided by the Prison and Justice Guards, video footage and records from electronic surveillance of cells.
“The commission had the opportunity to question all guards who were in contact with Milan Lucansky in both [prison] facilities, including medical personnel,” said Citbaj, adding that the commission didn’t have access to Lucansky’s health documents or to the dossier of his prosecution.
Meanwhile, Kolikova said that the final report of the commission will be published later on Friday. “I don’t think that it contains anything that would thwart the criminal proceedings [concerning the corruption case with Lucansky’s alleged involvement – ed. note],” said Kolikova.
Citbaj said that 14 members of the commission voted for the report. Former interior minister Denisa Sakova (an independent MP) and far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) chairman Marian Kotleba voted against it, while Smer-SD MP Marian Salon abstained from the vote. The commission was composed of politicians and experts.
The report shouldn’t be considered conclusive, as the commission wasn’t a prosecuting body, said Sakova.
“The commission couldn’t find out anything. We didn’t see medical reports or the autopsy report or personnel from the Military Hospital in Ruzomberok or from the Faculty Hospital in Presov,” said Sakova.
Lucansky, who was charged with corruption, died in hospital on December 30, one day after he was found hanging from a sweatshirt tied to a bed in his cell in Presov.
