PG Zilinka Decides to Temporarily Suspend Prosecutor Katarina K.

Bratislava, January 8 (TASR) – Prosecutor-General (PG) Maros Zilinka on Thursday (January 7) decided to temporarily suspend prosecutor of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Bratislava Katarina K., who is being criminally prosecuted by a National Crime Agency (NAKA) investigator for money laundering in the form of complicity, TASR has learnt from PG Office spokesperson Jana Tokolyova.

“I believe that the prosecution service can be a credible institution only if respect for the law is equally required from all of us,” said Zilinka. The charges against Katarina K. were pressed and her criminal prosecution launched on January 4.

Katarina K. in early December 2020 filed a complaint concerning the alleged unlawful conduct by Special Prosecution Office’s (USP) prosecutors Ondrej Repa and Michal Surek in relation to her husband Marian K., a NAKA investigator who was remanded in custody as part of NAKA’s Operation Judas. The two allegedly forced him to confess to his crimes and co-operate with the police. They allegedly threatened to disgrace both him and his wife, claiming that he’ll be sent to prison if he doesn’t comply.

Opposition Smer-SD party chairman Robert Fico on December 4 announced he has filed a criminal complaint against Repa and Surek for committing several crimes. He asked the acting special prosecutor to suspend them immediately. The Prosecutor’s Council, however, labelled Fico’s claims as grossly misleading and untrue, being a part of a discrediting campaign against the prosecutors.

Subsequently, 59 prosecutors have objected via a joint declaration against statements made by Fico. The prosecutors warned that attacks by lawmakers on representatives of the law-enforcement authorities directly interfere with their activities, noting that they view this as an attempt to influence their actions.