"It's been identified that the authorities hadn't done their work properly in nine out of 56 examined files, which is almost 17 percent, so I think we have nothing to brag about yet,"
said Prosecutor-General Jaromír Čižnár at a press conference on Wednesday. The Prosecutor's General's office has been examining the files in connection to articles written by the murdered investigative journalist Ján Kuciak. They focused on cases from Kuciak's final article, examining the activities of some Italians in Slovakia; allegedly mafia members, and their links to figures within the Slovak Government Office. This has resulted in prosecutions launched against figures identified for legal reasons only as Diego Roda, Sebastian Vadala and Antonino Vadala. "There's the suspicion of failures by some police officers and individuals from prosecutor's offices," said Čižnár, adding that one deputy prosecutor has resigned as a result, while another will face dismissal proceedings. "It's up to the Interior Ministry's Internal Affairs Inspectorate to investigate whether Antonio Vadala had links to police officers and customs officers," said Čižnár.
The Prosecutor General also strongly criticised Agriculture Minister Gabriela Matečná as well as the Agriculture Payment Agency (PPA) for the misuse of agricultural EU funds. 43 criminal files are currently being investigated on this matter. "The state absolutely fails in this field. Instead of protecting small farmers, the state has been liquidating them," Čižnár added.
