Jozef Roháč
Encyclopedia
Jozef Roháč a.k.a Potkan (September 6, 1956) is a Slovak criminal, terrorist and mafia hitman
, specializing in explosives. He is mostly known for installing the explosive device
in the Assassination of Róbert Remiáš
and in assassinations of numerous organized crime
bosses in Slovakia
and Hungary
. According to newspaper SME
, Roháč had at some point connections to both the Slovak and Hungarian
Secret Services. Despite international search by the Interpol
, he managed to evade the law for 9 years.
A career criminal for most of his life, in 1984 Roháč was sentenced to 15 years for terrorism under communist Czechoslovakia
for kidnapping the Deputy Minister of Health and attempting to take him out of the country. Later, he became the first prisoner ever to escape from Ilava prison. Soon re-captured, he became one of the organizers of the 1989 Leopoldov Prison
mutiny. He was released in 1990 because of a wide-ranging amnesty
by President Václav Havel
.
As of March 2011, Jozef Roháč remains in prison in Slovakia and he is waiting to be extradited to Hungary, where he will face charges of assassinating media magnate János Fenyö in 1998.
being Čiapočka (Little hood). The following identities have been used by Roháč in the past: Josef Fink; Miloš Lukáč (before 1989); Milan Lupták.
, Czechoslovakia
and as of today, he still has his official residence listed here. He was one of five siblings and his father was an alcoholic, who beat
the children, although not very often. In his own words, his childhood was not particularly happy and he used to get often into fights. Later, he started a career of petty crime: "fights, alcohol, badmouthing the communist regime, policemen and suspended sentences" recalls Roháč in the early 1990s.
, when armed, he kidnapped the Deputy Minister of Health in order to negotiate the crossing of the border to escape from the country.
He was 22 years old at that time, having just finished serving the compulsory military service in Czechoslovakia. After officially asking for the permit to travel to Austria
, Roháč was openly speaking about staying there. His permit was denied and two policemen came to his home and confiscated his passport
. Together with a friend he obtained two guns and they both stumbled upon the Deputy Minister of Health Kováč, kidnapping him immediately. They got stuck, however at the Petržalka
-Berg
border crossing, where they were surrounded by the police.
Jaroslav Toman, husband of future Minister of Labour of Slovakia Viera Tomanová
, who worked as a high ranking police officer in Bratislava at that time was one of the engaging policemen and Roháč's bullet allegedly missed him only narrowly. Toman's witness account served as a basis to accuse Roháč of the intent to kill, which Roháč denied. For his actions, Toman was awarded a medal for protecting the borders of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Despite the whole incident was declared a state secret
, Toman immediately told his wife. The story was broken by TV JOJ
in 2008. When interviewing Tomanová, she declared that her husband was scared of Roháč for the rest of his life and that her whole family was threatened at that time.
Jozef Roháč was sentenced to 15 years for terrorism, starting his sentence in Ilava
. He became the only person under communism ever to escape from Ilava prison, earning him respect among other prisoners. He was eventually re-captured and another four years in prison were added on top of his original sentence. During his subsequent stay in prison, he started writing poetry. He claims he was regularly beaten in Leopoldov Prison
.
mutiny in 1990 and he was one of the few prisoners to negotiate directly with the Federal Minister of Interior at that time, Ján Langoš
.
Already notorious and respected prisoner because of his successful escape from Ilava prison, Jozef Roháč bolstered his reputation also by an incident where he was brutally beaten by prison guards after talking to some prisoners, yet he refused to even tell them who he was speaking with.
After his release from Leopoldov Prison, Roháč continued his criminal career. A short time after being released, he helped his brother privatize some buildings using coercion
, an act he admitted in a later interview.
Over the years, Roháč became known in the Slovak underground as an expert on explosive device
s. He earned a reputation of professionalism in planning, preparation, realization and evidence removal and he was known to have a 100% success rate (although there is at least one publicized case of one of his explosive devices falling off the car allowing the target to survive).
. Fegyveres described the involvement of Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar
and Director of Slovak Information Service Ivan Lexa
in this crime. As of 1996, Fegyveres was already in hiding and communicated only through his close friend Róbert Remiáš.
The Deputy Director of Slovak Information Service Jaroslav Svěchota
gave the order to assassinate Remiáš to the boss of Bratislava mafia at that time, Miroslav Sýkora. Svěchota knew Sýkora personally, both men met regularly. According to the original lawsuit, Sýkora delegated the hit to Jozef Roháč and Imrich Oláh. According to the head of investigators at that time, they were helped by two other unidentified men, one of them a member of the Slovak Information Service. Roháč placed an explosive device under Remiáš's car, attaching it at the rear axle. The car exploded on Karloveská Street in Karlova Ves
, Bratislava on April 29, 1996. The explosion did not kill Remiáš immediately, as evidenced by fumes found in his lungs and witness accounts of hearing him scream, but he did die shortly after.
Bratislava regional prosecution, complying with the investigator, dropped the charges against Jozef Roháč and Imrich Oláh in 2006 in relation to the murder of Róbert Remiáš.
in Bratislava
, some minutes before 8 p.m. Dinič was considered to be head of one of the most powerful groups in the Bratislava mafia. The Diničovci group were known best for their racketeering business and for their part in the Privatisation in Slovakia under Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar. Dinič was aware his life was in danger and he was already preparing to go into hiding and on this day, he wanted to go play tennis
for the last time before heading out of the country. Roháč placed the explosives underneath concrete tiling of the narrow pavement leading to the tennis courts where Dinič was known to cross. The device was remotely detonated at the very moment that Dinič was above. Pieces of human tissue were collected by the police from the radius of 150 meters and the blast created a hole several meters deep.
According to Slovak police pyrotechnic Miroslav Gona, who was attending the crime scene, the killer must have been nearby, at a place where he could see the scene clearly. The explosive device was detonated remotely using probably a pager
, remote control from garage doors or a mobile phone, but those were still not widespread in Slovakia at that time. According to Gona, the device was at least 1 meter underneath the pavement which suggests large-scale construction work at this place. Apparently, no one noticed the preparation.
In December 1999, Slovak police interrupted investigation in this case. According to Alena Toševová from the Regional Police Directorship in Bratislava, "investigation was interrupted because there were no findings allowing to press charges against any individuals". Slovak investigators were not able to find out what kind of explosive device was used. It has to be noted that this placement of explosives is unique in Slovakia, in all prior mafia hits using explosives, the device was always placed in the car of the victim or in a car parked nearby.
. Roháč placed the explosives underneath a Fiat
vehicle parked outside Aranykéz Street No. 2 in the center of the city. The device exploded when Boros was nearby, killing not only him, but also 3 unconnected bystanders (including a 24-year-old woman) and injuring 20 - 25 others including foreign nationals. It was the first time in the history of Hungary that innocent bystanders died in mafia activities. The Budapest Police Headquarters suspected Jozef Roháč and other gang members of committing the attack, however the investigation ended in 2002 as it failed to provide evidence.
in Hungary. Roháč was released on October 26, 2010.
After his release from prison, a DNA sample taken back in 2008 was finally matched with samples left behind by the suspected assassin of Hungarian media mogul János Fenyö in 1998. On May 4, 2011 the Chief Prosecutor's Office in Budapest has launched an inquiry into delays in identifying the DNA after recently refusing to accept an explanation by the National Bureau of Investigation. In Hungary, DNA samples taken from criminals must be automatically matched with unidentified samples taken at past crime scenes. According to newspaper Népszabadság
, it is not yet clear whether the delay was caused by police or another authority.
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
, specializing in explosives. He is mostly known for installing the explosive device
Explosive device
An explosive device is device that relies on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Explosive devices have applications as demolition devices and as weapons in the military....
in the Assassination of Róbert Remiáš
Assassination of Róbert Remiáš
Assassination of Róbert Remiáš took place on April 29, 1996 in Karlova Ves, Bratislava, Slovakia. Remiáš, an ex-police officer, was one of the key figures in the trial against Slovak Information Service in the case of Kidnapping of the Slovak President's son into Austria from 1995. Remiáš's car was...
and in assassinations of numerous organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
bosses in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. According to newspaper SME
SME (newspaper)
SME or Denník SME is the most widely read and very influential mainstream broadsheet in Slovakia.Its target group is very wide, but officially it focuses on readers in bigger cities and agglomerations. Its circulation in December 2006 was 76 590. It appears 6 times a week. It is issued by Petit...
, Roháč had at some point connections to both the Slovak and Hungarian
Nemzetbiztonsági Hivatal
Nemzetbiztonsági Hivatal is the name of a Hungarian secret service. Its primary responsibilities are defensive: counterintelligence, counter-terrorism, and related proactive measures...
Secret Services. Despite international search by the Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
, he managed to evade the law for 9 years.
A career criminal for most of his life, in 1984 Roháč was sentenced to 15 years for terrorism under communist Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
for kidnapping the Deputy Minister of Health and attempting to take him out of the country. Later, he became the first prisoner ever to escape from Ilava prison. Soon re-captured, he became one of the organizers of the 1989 Leopoldov Prison
Leopoldov Prison
Leopoldov Prison is a 17th century fortress built against Ottoman Turks, in the 19th century it was converted into a high-security prison in the town of Leopoldov, Slovakia...
mutiny. He was released in 1990 because of a wide-ranging amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
by President Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
.
As of March 2011, Jozef Roháč remains in prison in Slovakia and he is waiting to be extradited to Hungary, where he will face charges of assassinating media magnate János Fenyö in 1998.
Name
Jozef Roháč is identified in the Slovak media as Potkan (Rat), his other aliasPseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
being Čiapočka (Little hood). The following identities have been used by Roháč in the past: Josef Fink; Miloš Lukáč (before 1989); Milan Lupták.
Early life
Jozef Roháč was born in LeviceLevice
Levice is a town in western Slovakia. The town lies on the left bank of the lower Hron river. The Old Slavic name of the town was Leva, which means "the Left One"....
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
and as of today, he still has his official residence listed here. He was one of five siblings and his father was an alcoholic, who beat
Physical abuse
Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...
the children, although not very often. In his own words, his childhood was not particularly happy and he used to get often into fights. Later, he started a career of petty crime: "fights, alcohol, badmouthing the communist regime, policemen and suspended sentences" recalls Roháč in the early 1990s.
Career under communism
Jozef Roháč committed his first high-profile crime in 1985, in communist CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, when armed, he kidnapped the Deputy Minister of Health in order to negotiate the crossing of the border to escape from the country.
He was 22 years old at that time, having just finished serving the compulsory military service in Czechoslovakia. After officially asking for the permit to travel to Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Roháč was openly speaking about staying there. His permit was denied and two policemen came to his home and confiscated his passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
. Together with a friend he obtained two guns and they both stumbled upon the Deputy Minister of Health Kováč, kidnapping him immediately. They got stuck, however at the Petržalka
Petržalka
Petržalka ) is the largest borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Situated on the right bank of the river Danube, it is home to approximately 150,000 people.-History:Historical records of Petržalka exist from 1225...
-Berg
Berg, Lower Austria
Berg is a town in the district of Bruck an der Leitha in Lower Austria in Austria. It, along with neighboring Wolfsthal were part of the municipality of Wolfsthal-Berg until 1996....
border crossing, where they were surrounded by the police.
Jaroslav Toman, husband of future Minister of Labour of Slovakia Viera Tomanová
Viera Tomanová
Viera Tomanová is a Slovak politician, former Minister of Labour of Slovakia under Prime Minister Robert Fico.As a Minister she became known for her wild statements and many controversies, most famously claiming her dog was poisoned in her house, prompting Prime Minister Fico to accuse Slovak...
, who worked as a high ranking police officer in Bratislava at that time was one of the engaging policemen and Roháč's bullet allegedly missed him only narrowly. Toman's witness account served as a basis to accuse Roháč of the intent to kill, which Roháč denied. For his actions, Toman was awarded a medal for protecting the borders of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Despite the whole incident was declared a state secret
State Secret
State Secret is a 1950 British drama film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Jack Hawkins, Glynis Johns and Herbert Lom. It was released in the United States under the title The Great Manhunt.-Cast:...
, Toman immediately told his wife. The story was broken by TV JOJ
TV JOJ
-About TV JOJ:It was launched on 2 March 2002 as a successor of the TV Global, which was broadcasting since March 2000. TV Joj was built by former head of Czech Republic channel TV Nova, Vladimír Železný, when he was at war with TV Nova’s U.S. investor Central European Media Enterprises...
in 2008. When interviewing Tomanová, she declared that her husband was scared of Roháč for the rest of his life and that her whole family was threatened at that time.
Jozef Roháč was sentenced to 15 years for terrorism, starting his sentence in Ilava
Ilava
Ilava is a town in the Trenčín Region, northwestern Slovakia.-Geography:It is located in the Ilava Basin near the Váh river at the foothills of Strážovské vrchy mountains, near the cities of Považská Bystrica and Trenčín...
. He became the only person under communism ever to escape from Ilava prison, earning him respect among other prisoners. He was eventually re-captured and another four years in prison were added on top of his original sentence. During his subsequent stay in prison, he started writing poetry. He claims he was regularly beaten in Leopoldov Prison
Leopoldov Prison
Leopoldov Prison is a 17th century fortress built against Ottoman Turks, in the 19th century it was converted into a high-security prison in the town of Leopoldov, Slovakia...
.
Leopoldov prison mutiny
Jozef Roháč was one of the organizers of the Leopoldov PrisonLeopoldov Prison
Leopoldov Prison is a 17th century fortress built against Ottoman Turks, in the 19th century it was converted into a high-security prison in the town of Leopoldov, Slovakia...
mutiny in 1990 and he was one of the few prisoners to negotiate directly with the Federal Minister of Interior at that time, Ján Langoš
Ján Langoš
Ján Langoš was a Slovak politician associated with the Democratic Party...
.
Already notorious and respected prisoner because of his successful escape from Ilava prison, Jozef Roháč bolstered his reputation also by an incident where he was brutally beaten by prison guards after talking to some prisoners, yet he refused to even tell them who he was speaking with.
After his release from Leopoldov Prison, Roháč continued his criminal career. A short time after being released, he helped his brother privatize some buildings using coercion
Coercion
Coercion is the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner by use of threats or intimidation or some other form of pressure or force. In law, coercion is codified as the duress crime. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way...
, an act he admitted in a later interview.
Over the years, Roháč became known in the Slovak underground as an expert on explosive device
Explosive device
An explosive device is device that relies on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Explosive devices have applications as demolition devices and as weapons in the military....
s. He earned a reputation of professionalism in planning, preparation, realization and evidence removal and he was known to have a 100% success rate (although there is at least one publicized case of one of his explosive devices falling off the car allowing the target to survive).
Assassination of Róbert Remiáš
Róbert Remiáš, an ex-police officer, was the person through which Oskar Fegyveres communicated in a key political lawsuit of the 1990's Slovakia. Fegyveres was an ex-secret agent who gave testimony in the case of kidnapping of the son of the President of Slovakia, Michal Kováč jr. into AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Fegyveres described the involvement of Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar
Vladimír Meciar
Vladimír Mečiar is a Slovak politician who was Prime Minister of Slovakia from 1990 to 1991, from 1992 to 1994, and from 1994 to 1998. He is the leader of the People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia...
and Director of Slovak Information Service Ivan Lexa
Ivan Lexa
Ivan Lexa, Ing. is the former head of the Slovak Secret Service from 1995 to 1998. One of the closest allies of the former autocratic Prime Minister of Slovakia Vladimír Mečiar, under Lexa the Secret Service committed numerous high-profile politically motivated crimes.In 2000, Ivan Lexa fled...
in this crime. As of 1996, Fegyveres was already in hiding and communicated only through his close friend Róbert Remiáš.
The Deputy Director of Slovak Information Service Jaroslav Svěchota
Jaroslav Svěchota
Jaroslav Svěchota, plk., JUDr. was the former Deputy Chief of the Slovak Secret Service and lawyer...
gave the order to assassinate Remiáš to the boss of Bratislava mafia at that time, Miroslav Sýkora. Svěchota knew Sýkora personally, both men met regularly. According to the original lawsuit, Sýkora delegated the hit to Jozef Roháč and Imrich Oláh. According to the head of investigators at that time, they were helped by two other unidentified men, one of them a member of the Slovak Information Service. Roháč placed an explosive device under Remiáš's car, attaching it at the rear axle. The car exploded on Karloveská Street in Karlova Ves
Karlova Ves
Karlova Ves is a borough in western Bratislava and part of the Bratislava IV district, located near the southern end of the Little Carpathians....
, Bratislava on April 29, 1996. The explosion did not kill Remiáš immediately, as evidenced by fumes found in his lungs and witness accounts of hearing him scream, but he did die shortly after.
Bratislava regional prosecution, complying with the investigator, dropped the charges against Jozef Roháč and Imrich Oláh in 2006 in relation to the murder of Róbert Remiáš.
Assassination of Eduard Dinič
On May 9, 1998 an explosion equivalent to 5 kilograms of TNT killed local crime boss Eduard Dinič near Zlaté pieskyZlaté Piesky
Zlaté Piesky is a lake and a summer resort in northeastern Bratislava, Slovakia, near the D1 motorway.-Characteristics:...
in Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, some minutes before 8 p.m. Dinič was considered to be head of one of the most powerful groups in the Bratislava mafia. The Diničovci group were known best for their racketeering business and for their part in the Privatisation in Slovakia under Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar. Dinič was aware his life was in danger and he was already preparing to go into hiding and on this day, he wanted to go play tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
for the last time before heading out of the country. Roháč placed the explosives underneath concrete tiling of the narrow pavement leading to the tennis courts where Dinič was known to cross. The device was remotely detonated at the very moment that Dinič was above. Pieces of human tissue were collected by the police from the radius of 150 meters and the blast created a hole several meters deep.
According to Slovak police pyrotechnic Miroslav Gona, who was attending the crime scene, the killer must have been nearby, at a place where he could see the scene clearly. The explosive device was detonated remotely using probably a pager
Pager
A pager is a simple personal telecommunications device for short messages. A one-way numeric pager can only receive a message consisting of a few digits, typically a phone number that the user is then requested to call...
, remote control from garage doors or a mobile phone, but those were still not widespread in Slovakia at that time. According to Gona, the device was at least 1 meter underneath the pavement which suggests large-scale construction work at this place. Apparently, no one noticed the preparation.
In December 1999, Slovak police interrupted investigation in this case. According to Alena Toševová from the Regional Police Directorship in Bratislava, "investigation was interrupted because there were no findings allowing to press charges against any individuals". Slovak investigators were not able to find out what kind of explosive device was used. It has to be noted that this placement of explosives is unique in Slovakia, in all prior mafia hits using explosives, the device was always placed in the car of the victim or in a car parked nearby.
Assassination of Tamás Boros
On July 2, 1998, Roháč assassinated local mafia boss Tamás Boros in BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. Roháč placed the explosives underneath a Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
vehicle parked outside Aranykéz Street No. 2 in the center of the city. The device exploded when Boros was nearby, killing not only him, but also 3 unconnected bystanders (including a 24-year-old woman) and injuring 20 - 25 others including foreign nationals. It was the first time in the history of Hungary that innocent bystanders died in mafia activities. The Budapest Police Headquarters suspected Jozef Roháč and other gang members of committing the attack, however the investigation ended in 2002 as it failed to provide evidence.
Other notable crimes
- Assassination of Róbert Holub, an organized crime boss from KošiceKošiceKošice is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary...
, Slovakia. - Assassination of Kucmerko, an organized crime boss from Dubnica, Slovakia.
- Budapest Police believe that the gang led by Roháč was responsible for bomb attacks against the headquarters of the Fidesz party and of the Independent Smallholders' Party, and against the homes of two Members of Parliament in Budapest in the spring and summer of 1998.
Legal issues
Jozef Roháč was arrested in Hungary in 2008 on charges of attempted assassination of businessman Zoltan Seres in June 1997 and finished serving his sentence in October 2010. Roháč's fingerprints were found on the device that dislodged from the bottom of Seres' car and failed to go off. The police could not secure enough evidence for prosecutor to push for a prepared execution of Zoltan Seres, which would carry much higher sentences, he was only sentenced to 2 years in prison and 3 years of being persona non grataPersona non grata
Persona non grata , literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country...
in Hungary. Roháč was released on October 26, 2010.
After his release from prison, a DNA sample taken back in 2008 was finally matched with samples left behind by the suspected assassin of Hungarian media mogul János Fenyö in 1998. On May 4, 2011 the Chief Prosecutor's Office in Budapest has launched an inquiry into delays in identifying the DNA after recently refusing to accept an explanation by the National Bureau of Investigation. In Hungary, DNA samples taken from criminals must be automatically matched with unidentified samples taken at past crime scenes. According to newspaper Népszabadság
Népszabadság
Népszabadság is a major left-leaning Hungarian newspaper, founded in 1956 as successor of "Szabad Nép" , the central organ of the dissolved Hungarian Working People's Party...
, it is not yet clear whether the delay was caused by police or another authority.
In culture
- Jozef Roháč is featured in the 1994 textbook Násilí (Violence) compiled by known Slovak sociologist and former VPNPublic Against ViolenceThe Public Against Violence was a political movement that was established in Bratislava, Slovakia on 20 November 1989. It was the Slovak counterpart of the Czech Civic Forum ....
chairman Fedor Gál with other authors. One chapter is essentially a transcription of tape records of an interview conducted by Gál with Roháč probably in early 1993. - A book Jozef Roháč - štvrťstoročie na úteku (Jozef Roháč - quarter-century on the run) by Slovak journalist Martin Mózer was published in 2010. The book has 328 pages and is written in the Slovak languageSlovak languageSlovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
.
See also
- Crime in SlovakiaCrime in SlovakiaSlovakia is a Central European country with a history of relatively low crime. While crime became more widespread after the fall of communism in 1989, it remains low when compared to many other post-communist countries....
- Prisons in SlovakiaPrisons in SlovakiaPrisons in Slovakia are fully owned and operated by the state. In 2004, Slovakia had 8 891 prisoners, representing 165 per 100 000 of the national population. By the end of 2010 the prison population has risen to 10 031 prisoners . As of 2010, Slovakia has 18 correctional institutions capable of...
- Slovak Information Service
- Nemzetbiztonsági HivatalNemzetbiztonsági HivatalNemzetbiztonsági Hivatal is the name of a Hungarian secret service. Its primary responsibilities are defensive: counterintelligence, counter-terrorism, and related proactive measures...
Sources
- GÁL, F. et. al., Násilí, EGEM:Praha, 1994. ISBN 80-85395-41-X