Vladimir Meciar to face prosecution again

A Bratislava Police Corps Regional Directorate investigator has resumed the criminal prosecution of former prime minister Vladimir Meciar (1993-98) over the misuse of a public official's powers in the case of his 1998 amnesties. Private TV Markiza informed that the criminal prosecution over the issuing of an amnesty on the kidnapping of former president's son Michal Kovac Jr. had been re-initiated already in December 2019. "More detailed information cannot be provided on the case at this moment," stated Bratislava police spokesperson Lucia Mihalikova, adding that the investigation is still ongoing. The suspicion of the misuse of a public official's powers is rooted in the issuing of amnesties by Vladimir Meciar on the 1995 kidnapping of Michal Kovac Jr. When the amnesties were declared null and void about two decades later, the police launched an investigation into the kidnapping in July 2017, but it was subsequently terminated in August due to the statute of limitations. However, the investigation was resumed in October 2017, only to be stopped again by a Bratislava Police Corps Directorate investigator on July 24, 2019. This did not sit well with the Prosecutor-General's Office, however, which perused the investigation file and instructed the Bratislava Regional Police Directorate to re-launch the criminal prosecution again and it was resumed in December 2019.