Tatra National Park Head Peter Olexa Resigns

        Bratislava, January 11 (TASR) - Tatra National Park (TANAP) Administration director Peter Olexa resigned on Thursday, doing so after the media coverage of his plea of guilty in the matter of poaching, TASR was told by the Environment Ministry's communication department on Thursday.
        "Peter Olexa considers the whole case covered by the media to be only part of a political struggle in which he doesn't intend to participate. The TANAP director has therefore requested release from his post," said the ministry.
        The communication department pointed out that during the selection procedure for the post, Olexa submitted a current extract from his criminal record, which didn't contain any records, thus fulfilling the condition of integrity. "If Olexa was found guilty of poaching in the past, the information about this can only be found in a transcript of the criminal record, which, however, the Environment Ministry doesn't and can't have," said the ministry, adding that transcripts from the criminal records can be requested for the purposes of criminal proceedings only by law enforcement bodies, the prosecutor's office and the courts.
        Olexa was convicted of poaching a protected wolf. The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS), Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and the non-parliamentary Democrats have called for his resignation.