Slovak News Back to the news
Court Sentences Mikulas Cernak to Life for Committing Six Murders
Tuesday 10 November 2009 Zoom in | Print page
Presov, November 10 (TASR) - The senate of Presov District Court on Tuesday found alleged Banska Bystrica Mafia boss Mikulas Cernak guilty of committing six murders and planning a further killing, sentencing him to life imprisonment in the third, most severe category of penal conditions.
Cernak, who has appealed against the sentence, was charged with the murders of Jozef Filip, Jozef Stefan, Pavol Lenhart, Milan Sipos, Emil Potasch and Gustav Slivensky. The murders were most likely related to score-settling within the Slovak underworld in the 1990s. In addition, Cernak allegedly ordered the murder of Marian Karcel from jail via his former brother-in-law Jozef M. (full name not provided) and advocate Daniel M. The court on Tuesday also sentenced Jozef M. to 12 years in prison. The accused didn't attend the trial, and his lawyer immediately appealed against the sentence.
The court process with the Cernak group began in November 2008, with almost 70 witnesses and experts appearing before the court. The accused refused to give testimony at the beginning, only changing his mind as late as in March, when the trial was approaching its end. The public weren't allowed to be present during his testimony, however.
In his closing speech, Cernak confessed to taking part in the murder of Jozef Filip, who was shot dead near Liptovska Teplicka (Zilina region) in 1994. He said that he regretted the killing, adding that he is ashamed of his criminal past. He denied any involvement in the other murders, however.
All rights reserved. Any publishing or further dissemination of press releases and photographs from TASR's resources without TASR's prior written approval constitutes a violation of the Copyrights Act.
