We are experiencing another grave and tragic day in the Slovak judiciary, Judicial Council chairman Ján Mazák stated after the National Crime Agency (NAKA) started its operation nicknamed Gale. On Wednesday as part of it, a Supreme Court judge, Supreme Court's former vice chairwoman and two judges of Bratislava district courts were detained on suspicion of corruption and other crimes.
"After NAKA's Operations Storm and Weeds, Operation Gale confirms that the fight against corruption, bribery, the obstruction of justice and interference in the independence of the judiciary is taking on dimensions with which we can no longer speak only of individuals. The system has failed and is collapsing," said Mazák. He went on to say that the loss of the post of judge or personal freedom should serve as a strong warning to those who would still like to see the profession of judge as a source of effortless income and other benefits.
The judges' initiative For Open Justice (ZOJ - Za otvorenú justíciu) has hope that the time has come to properly investigate all suspicions of criminal network controlling Slovak courts. The initiative's spokesperson Katarína Javorčíková expressed belief that all judges, prosecutors and advocates, who were part of the criminal network, would be identified and excluded from the Justice system.
The list of detained judges includes Supreme Court vice-chair Jarmila Urbancová, Supreme Court judge Jozef Kolcun, former Bratislava I Regional Court vice-chair Katarína Bartlaská and judge Otília Doláková.
