Kosovan drug smuggler Baki Sadiki is to serve 22 years in prison after being convicted for a second time in a retrial for smuggling heroin from Turkey to Slovakia back in 2007 and 2008. Sadiki was sentenced to prison in absentia two years ago, but he appealed for a retrial on a formal shortcoming after being extradited to Slovakia in 2012.
Sadiki pleaded not guilty and rejected an offer of a lower sentence if admitting guilt, saying “I’m really innocent. The whole thing is a mistake” and so the retrial, launched in November, had to repeat interrogation of witnesses etc. The Presov District Court judging on the case, issued the exact same verdict as the sentence imposed two years ago in Sadiki’s absence.
Sadiki’s advocate Tibor Basista appealed immediately and demanded that his client be freed, SME daily reports. The verdict could therefore still be overturned, once again, if the higher instance court, the Regional Court in Presov, decides to accommodate the appeal.
Sadiki became known in Slovakia after media released a recording of his phone call with Supreme Court chairman Stefan Harabin from 1994. This recording seems to show that Harabin and Sadiki knew one another well. Harabin still faces criticism and suspicion over the case, but denies it is his voice and even sued the Attorney General’s Office for EUR 150,000 for even admitting the transcript from the recording in its case file.
George – reporting business failures, large or small, is not govt. policy. It makes them and their policies look foolish and it appears the media are happy to oblige. Also, thousands of trees would have to die to provide the extra column space if every closure was reported. Local businesses are falling like dominoes but because they only employ a “few” people it passes without comment even though the cumulative effect is the same as a more newsworthy employer shutting shop.
Slimsedg – The more I read into Slovak law and the courts the more I dispair. The basis of your legal system are codes established in 1840 which have hardly been updated, successive govts. have failed to address “modernising” the law and most legislative changes have been amendments rather than updates with many of the amendments being so badly formulated as to leave huge loopholes. For laws to function in a democracy they must be easy to understand and apply, the opposite seems to be the case here, where only the legal elite can decypher ( and manipulate) the current system. I was also shocked to learn that being a judge is a job here. In theory, someone as young as 25 can serve as a judge having only studied for the position, with no experience of practicing law or life in general – I’m not quite sure how that can work!
I have to agree that the Sadiki case seems to be following a common pattern, keep appealing until the “right” judge hands down the “right” decision.
DC, Actually I was more surprised this mews website had not reported Wizzair`s demise, which would have been informative and interesting news for the English readership, rather than some ongoing boring spin story about a nobody mafia crook ??
BTW. I note our Vacant Lot, Mr Slim is still whittering on and repeating himself again and again. I would like to believe he is trying hard due to his lack of wordsmith skills ?? Sadly that is what we are left with on this comment page, just nutters and parrots …with a few exceptions of course 🙂
As far as we are aware, Wizzair are still operating. You maybe meant DanubeWings, which halted operations on 20 November and dealt primarily with chartered flights.
Thank God for that JB, at least it proves someone is still awake on the Mews site . I was starting to think you were all just trying to bore us to sleep, along with yourselves in that office ?
Call me good !
Call me bad !
Call me anything you want to baby
But I know that you’re sad
And I know I’ll make you happy
With the one thing that you never had.
George M – ‘ I’m your Man’ – Music From The Edge Of Heaven 😉
Slim, you`re not turd burglar now are you ?
I am more feline, long legged, huge breasted kind of `I`m your Man` .
I see this sham trial ultimately going only 1 way, not guilty ( on some technicality of course) or if he’s a bit low on cash, then a diplomatic passport, and a 1 way ticket to Belize…..
Danube Wings too. How will you getr home George.? Ryanair!
Wizzair went bust last week ( sorry, shut down in an orderly fashion, ticket refund holders should wait in a Q ) anyone read that ?