Vienna Regional Court Sentences Misenka to 20 Years in Prison

Bratislava/Vienna, October 13 (TASR) – In the case of the explosion at a company called Euromont in Topolcany (Nitra region) in 2009, Viliam Misenska will serve only 20 years in prison, TASR was told by Vienna Regional Court vice-president Christina Salzborn on Tuesday.

The verdict was made at the beginning of October by Higher Regional Court Vienna, which lowered the original sentence by three years made by the Specialised Criminal Court (SIS) in Pezinok (Bratislava region).

Salzborn went on to say that the Regional Court in Vienna first ruled on the reduction of the sentence of Misenka, who was detained by the Austrian police in Baden near Vienna on July 2 this year. Misenka (63) filed a complaint against the ruling. “Misenka’s complaint was rejected by the Higher Regional Court in Vienna on October 8 as unfounded, confirming the decision of the first-instance court,” said Salzborn.

Misenka is therefore no longer in pre-trial custody but has been placed in prison. There is no appeal against the decision of the court of appeal. Under Austrian law, Misenka could have served either a 20-year sentence or a life sentence.

Misenka, who was in the past investigated for several crimes, has been on the run since 2018, when he was sentenced to 23 years by the Supreme Court in Slovakia for ordering a murder. The case concerned an explosion at Euromont in Topolcany in 2009, in which one person was killed and several other people sustained injuries.

The Slovak police also had to search for him earlier. In that case he was tracked down in Venezuela and escorted back to Slovakia in 2013, where he ended up spending two years in custody. Misenka couldn’t be extradited to Slovakia the second time as he also has Austrian citizenship.