There has been speculation that former police vice-president Jaroslav Spisiak, renowned for actually trying to deal with corruption instead of being sucked in by it, will take up control at the helm of the Slovak police force. It seems that the rumours are true as he has been offered the post of Police President.
Spisiak, who has been working as head of security at refinery Slovnaft for the past four years, said he would consider the offer of taking up the top post, and a decision should fall before the end of this week. The outgoing police president Jan Packa will officially hold the post until Saturday 17 July. The allocation of top posts in the police is the task of Minister of Interior, Daniel Lipsic (KDH), but he has refused to comment on the nomination until things are finalised, which should mean Monday.
Minister Lipsic has made it clear, though, that the top posts in the police force will not be politically nominated, while also accusing the former government of not uncovering any major cases of corruption or organised crime. “I am pleased by the statistics, but all the big fish are getting away” declared Lipsic.
Spisiak became renowned for going directly after “Mafia” groups in Slovakia, and he was the one behind the capture and arrest of boss Mikulas Cernak in the Czech Republic. He boosted his reputation as a true crime-fighter when he unravelled Slovakia’s most brutal Mafia murder – the slaying of the Papay Gang in March 1999.
After being recalled by former minister Kalinak under the Fico government, despite all his successes, Spisiak claimed that he would never return to such a post. At the time he said “I am the kind of person who doesn’t give up, but as Kalinak has given the impulse for my departure, he has helped me resolve my situation, I guess. I want nothing more to do with the police”.
Unofficial information reveals that his acceptance of the post is a foregone conclusion, and if so, corruption will once more be under the microscope instead of being ‘tolerated’, or even encouraged.