Lukáš Kyselica, head of the team investigating one of the biggest scandals in Slovakia's modern history, known as the 'Gorilla case', has submitted his letter of resignation from the Police Corps, it was reported on Tuesday. Kyselica has led the National Crime Agency's (NAKA) Gorilla team since December 2016, when he replaced Marek Gajdoš, who also left the Police Corps at his own request. Kyselica has been a member of the team since shortly after its inception in January 2012. The Gorilla scandal took its name from a 2005-06 secret service file that was allegedly leaked, involving the wiretapping of high-level politicians, officials and business executives. In the recorded conversations, those involved discussed the arranging of kickbacks to key decision makers in return for procurement and privatisation contracts. The publicising of these details resulted in mass protests against corruption throughout Slovakia, and the investigation has been ongoing ever since.
The Police Corps Presidium has stated that the move is Kyselica's own decision. Some, however, are questioning whether his decision to step down was the result of attempts to obstruct the investigation, especially since his predecessor had also decided to step down under similar circumstances. Opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) Vice-chair Ľubomír Galko and OLaNO Vice-chair Gábor Grendel concurred on Tuesday that Kyselica's resignation is a bad signal for society, amid concerns that his superiors were deliberately withdrawing support for the investigation. "I can't imagine this being done by a person who felt the support of his superiors," Grendel wrote on a social network, adding that the police were "probably not sufficiently cleaned up" despite the departure of former police president Tibor Gašpar and others. "This is a very bad signal for society that longs for justice, and on the other hand good news for those people involved in Gorilla," said Galko, suggesting that Kyselica as well as his predecessor Marek Gajdoš may have encountered attempts to obstruct the investigation. He added that if this suspicion is confirmed, the Freedom and Solidarity party will demand that Kyselica's superiors be held responsible.
