European Court of Human Rights Rejects Appeal by Former Slovak Prosecutor Dušan Kováčik

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has rejected a complaint filed by Dušan Kováčik, a former Slovak prosecutor, who challenged the timing of charges brought against him in a major corruption case. Kováčik had argued that filing an indictment before a decision on a procedural motion under Article 363 of the Slovak Criminal Code violated his rights. The former prosecutor was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison for accepting a 50,000-euro bribe from a mafia group in exchange for assistance in securing the release of a crime boss from the Takáčovci gang from detention. The Strasbourg court's decision upholds the Slovak judicial process and confirms that the procedural timing did not constitute a violation of Kováčik's human rights under the European Convention.