Two men facing charges in a string of cashpoint robberies have been released following a clerical error by a judge. According to the report, Bratislava I District Court judge Juraj Mihal is to blame for the blunder, as he failed to send the documentation required to his peers at the Bratislava Regional Court.
This was despite the fact that the two courts are located in the same building. After Mihal extended the term of custody for the two men, they appealed against the decision. The judge then failed to pass the case on to the Regional Court within the required time span, whereupon the Regional Court judge was duty bound to let the two suspects go. Consequently, the alleged cashpoint robbers – who used dynamite, winching gear and trucks to snatch entire cashpoint machines – are now facing the charges at large. The arrests took place over a period of months some three years ago and the two had been in custody since that time. The judge's blunder is being dealt with by the Justice Ministry. “Justice Minister (Tomas Borec) has placed a request with Bratislava I District Court chair to address and double-check the case,” said ministry spokesperson Alexandra Donevova. A group of the so-called cashpoint robbers are suspected of having stolen hundreds of thousands of euros from automated teller machines (ATMs) across Slovakia. [This does happen occasionally in the Slovak justice system, the most notable case being Karol Mello, who was in custody on murder conspiracy charges two years ago and found himself on the street. He subsequently fled to Belize, from where Slovak authorities are unable to extradite him.]
