SaS to Consider No-Confidence Motion in Sutaj Estok over Kosice Incident

Kosice, November 13 (TASR) - The Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party is planning to contact its opposition partners to discuss the position of Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) and consider whether to proceed with a no-confidence motion in him, stated SaS head Branislav Groehling on Wednesday, in relation to the case of a Kosice police officer who's been charged with manslaughter. "This is the second publicly reported case in which a detainee in Kosice 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 Sutaj Estok," Groehling said. He criticised the entire year of Sutaj Estok's tenure as minister, claiming that the minister's behaviour sends a signal that bullying, aggressive behaviour, and abuse of power are acceptable. "I will be contacting our opposition partners to discuss the future of Minister Sutaj Estok in this government and whether we should proceed with a motion to dismiss him. It is also a question for the government: Do they believe the events of the past months are acceptable? They should consider dismissing the minister," he added. Former justice minister Maria Kolikova (SaS) also called for political accountability. According to her, there is no doubt that police brutality occurred. She mentioned that, after the death of former police chief Milan Lucansky in December 2020, the head of the Prison and Judicial Guard Corps (ZVJS) resigned shortly afterwards, even though no culpability or fault on the part of prison guards has been proven to date. Sutaj Estok expressed concern about the Kosice incident, stating that a police officer must face the same consequences for his actions as any other individual in case of breaking the law. He also announced a plan to increase the intensity of preventive training of police officers as well as the preparation of a project concerning police body cameras. An investigator of the Interior Ministry's Inspectorate (UIS) on Tuesday pressed charges of manslaughter against a Kosice police officer. According to the Inspectorate, the officer in question, 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. A court has decided to prosecute the officer in custody in the meantime. If found guilty, the officer might be sentenced to 12-15 years in prison. tl/mcs/zel