Dusan K.: My Sentence Is Execution and Throwback to 1950s

Dusan K.: My Sentence Is Execution and Throwback to 1950s

Trencin, September 23 (TASR) – Convicted ex-special prosecutor Dusan K. (name abbreviated due to legal reasons) stated on Thursday via his lawyer Jan Krsiak in regards to his trial at the Specialised Criminal Court that during the eleven months he’s spent in custody one of the biggest farces he’s ever witnessed in his sixty years of existence was taking place outside.

“The farce culminated on September 20 when the verdict was announced. The verdict didn’t surprise me. Given the course of the proceedings, including the trial, I couldn’t have expected anything else. The utter disregard for the basic principles of criminal proceedings gradually convinced me that the proceedings against me would be anything but fair,” stated the ex-prosecutor.

While Dusan K. wasn’t surprised at the verdict, it was “an immense surprise” for him to learn “how quickly the case was brought to a conclusion, especially when the investigation was about half-finished”. “Many witnesses weren’t interrogated, discrepancies weren’t eliminated, and all our proposals for additional evidence were rejected”.

“The processing of the indictment and its prompt submission to the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok in less than 24 hours was just the icing on the cake. The real shock came on September 16, when the judge declared the proceedings for presenting evidence to be completed and announced that evening that the trial would resume on the next day with the closing speeches. Because of this, the preparation of my closing speech was limited to approximately 2.5 hours in a custody cell, where I didn’t have the option to consult it with my lawyers,” stressed Dusan K.

As for his 14-year sentence, Dusan K. remarked that it isn’t a punishment, but “an execution and a throwback to the 1950s”.

The Specialised Criminal Court on Monday sentenced Dusan K. to 14 years in prison for arranging a former mobster’s release from police custody while he headed the Special Prosecutor’s Office in exchange for a €50,000 bribe and for leaking information about criminal prosecutions. The ex-prosecutor was found guilty of all four counts of the indictment and had his property confiscated in addition. The verdict is not yet final and can be appealed against.