Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas-SD) lost a court case against police officers from the so-called ‘Čurillovci’ and will have to apologise for comparing them to convicted crime boss Mikuláš Černák. Peter Kubina, who represented the police officers explained that Šutaj Eštok failed to check his electronic mailbox and therefore lost the case "by default", so he'll have to pay a total of €90,000 in damages, including court fees and late payment interest.
"Minister Šutaj Eštok, as the defendant, was so passive that after the verdict was delivered (again to his electronic mailbox), he didn't even use his right to file an appeal. As a result, the verdict became final and enforceable a few days later. We've therefore filed for enforcement, and the minister is now subject to an enforcement order, with his bank account now being blocked by a bailiff," said Kubina, adding that Šutaj Eštok will also have to pay the bailiff's fee.
According to Kubina, the Minister will have to pay damages personally to Ján Čurilla, Pavol Ďurka, Štefan Mašin, Milan Sabota, Robert Magula and Branislav Dunčko, as the police officers filed the lawsuit against him as a natural person, and not against the ministry.
Kubina recalled that Šutaj Eštok mentioned the Čurilla group and Mikuláš Černák in his social media post published in April, complaining about how "someone" can make heroes out of certain people. To protect their rights, the police officers filed a lawsuit in May, and the default verdict was issued on 10 September, becoming final on 14 October and enforceable on 18 October.
Two days later, the police officers filed a request for enforcement, and Kubina says the minister now has the entire compensation amount in his bank account blocked. According to him, the case will raise many questions.
"All politically active individuals who habitually defame the Čurilla group officers with false statements should realise that their public defamatory remarks carry not only weight, but also come at a price. Every defamatory statement that can be monetised will indeed be monetised," he declared.
I stand by my statements about the group of police officers known as the 'Curilla group', wrote Šutaj Eštok on social media on Tuesday in response to the verdict.
The minister explained that he rarely uses his electronic mailbox on the Slovensko.sk portal due to his workload, and he believes that the court should have tried to contact him in another way.
"Once again, I repeat that I stand by my words. I'll keep saying what I've said, and I'll take all legal steps to overturn this questionable decision. They can try to intimidate me, they can punish me for my views, but they'll never take away my beliefs," added Šutaj Eštok .
SaS party leader Branislav Gröhling wrote on social media that SaS is calling for the Minister's ouster.
"He's a man who is in office thanks to online trolling. As interior minister, he's bullied investigators, defended laws in favour of mobsters, and exposed students to a raging crowd that was threatening them. The police force has completely fallen apart under Šutaj Eštok, and there's no use speaking about safety in Slovakia any more," he stated.
PS MP Jaroslav Spišiak commented on social media that "this is how it ends up when an internet troll starts thinking he can do whatever he wants without facing any consequences".
Former interior minister and MP from the 'Slovakia-Za ludi' caucus Roman Mikulec described the minister as a "chronic lawbreaker".
"Matus Šutaj Eštok loves to present himself as a lawyer, as an expert who knows it all, but now he's actually ignored the courts. He ignored the fact that he was supposed to appear in court and explain the motivation behind his statements," said Mikulec.
Source: TASR
