The US Department of State on Thursday banned former Slovak prosecutor-general Dobroslav Trnka and his son Jakub from entering the United States. The reason is their involvement in significant corruption, according to the website of the US State Department.
The ban on entry for Trnka was decided directly by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was appointed by new President Joe Biden. "In his official capacity as the prosecutor-general of Slovakia, Trnka was involved in corrupt acts that undermined the rule of law and the Slovak public's faith in their government's democratic institutions, officials, and public processes," reads Blinken's statement. Blinken stressed that this designation reaffirms U.S. commitment to combating corruption in Slovakia.
Blinken stressed that the decision in question had been issued solely on the basis of the US Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programmes Appropriations Act. This step does not seek to prejudge or influence ongoing or future Slovak legal proceedings involving Trnka. In addition to the designation of former prosecutor-general Trnka, the state secretary also publicly designated his son, Jakub Trnka.
In late 2019, Dobroslav Trnka was charged with abuse of power for hiding recordings from a secret service operation investigating links between politicians and businessmen. The National Crime Agency detained Trnka in January 2020. According to the Dennik N daily, the move was connected to a conversation between him and the former finance minister for Smer-SD Jan Počiatek that was video-recorded by crooked businessman Marián Kočner. On the video, which went public in November 2019, the two discuss a controversial carbon-dioxide emission-quota deal from 2008 and a lawsuit between the state-run lottery and betting company Tipos and a Cyprus-based company called Lemikon, also dating back to 2008 which turned disadvantageous for the state coffers.
Source: TASR, RSI
