Court: Machete-wielding Attacker Released from Pre-trial Custody

Kosice, March 19 (TASR) - The Kosice Regional Court decided on Monday (March 17) to release from custody defendant Marek B. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons], who had been threatening a police patrol with a machete in Kosice, Branislav Bujnak of the Kosice Regional Prosecutor's Office confirmed to TASR on Wednesday. It was Korzar daily that first broke the news. Marek B., 29, faces charges of an attack on a public official. Following the incident of February 26, the police officers shot him and he was subsequently rushed to a hospital and a Kosice city court decided on February 28 to take him to a pre-trial custody. According to the daily, at the time when the decision to prosecute Marek B. in custody was made, the defendant was in a coma and hence couldn't be interrogated, as explicitly specified by the Penal Code. This non-compliance with the law was challenged by Marek B.'s defence attorney and the Regional Court agreed such course of action was unlawful and annulled the decision. On February 26, police received a report that a man with a machete was posing a public danger at one of petrol stations in Kosice. The man started to flee from the patrol and once his car was stopped, tried to resist arrest by swinging the machete at one of the officers. Subsequently the man was shot and ended up in a hospital. The incident is being investigated by the Internal Affairs Inspectorate. mf