On Tuesday, an investigator of the Interior Ministry's Inspectorate has pressed charges of manslaughter against a Košice police officer. According to the Inspectorate, the officer, while on duty in early November, inflicted multiple injuries to the head and body of an individual detained while perpetrating a crime, with the detainee succumbing to the injuries in hospital the following day.
Following the brutal incident, Freedom and Solidarity party is planning to contact its opposition partners to discuss the position of Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Voice-SD) and consider whether to proceed with a no-confidence motion in him.
"This is the second publicly reported case in which a detainee in Košice was abused and beaten by certain police officers. For us, it is also a major failure on the part of the Police Corps. It is a significant failure of Minister Šutaj Eštok," head of the party Branislav Groehling said.
Meanwhile, leader of Progressive Slovakia party Michal Šimečka thinks that the interior minister should have resigned on his own volition, but as he failed to do so, Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) should dismiss him. He said that if Šutaj Eštok remains in the post, they will initiate his ouster in Parliament.
The brutal incident was also condemned by ombudsman Robert Dobrovodsky and Amnesty International Slovakia. "This tragedy must be the tipping point that will spur systemic changes in the police that will make end to police brutality once forever. A police authority that ignores human rights and disrespects security can help nobody," said AI Slovakia director Rado Sloboda.
Although Minister Šutaj Eštok expressed regret over the incident in Košice, he said that a police officer must face the same consequences for his or her actions as any other person if he or she violates the law. In this regard, the minister stated that a body-camera project for police officers has been speeded up, and a pilot programme could potentially be launched on December 1. It will probably be deployed in the eastern part of Slovakia.
Source: TASR
