Prague, Feb 19 (CTK) – The Czech police have accused four people of the contract murder of a Slovak man who was a witness in an extensive drug-trafficking case, Pavel Hantak, spokesman for the police Squad for Uncovering Organised Crime (UOOZ), told CTK on Friday.
The dead body was buried in a forest in the Ralsko former military district, north Bohemia.
The detained suspects, three Czechs and one Slovak, face up to 20 years in prison or an exceptional sentence, which ranges from 20 to 30 years behind bars if found guilty.
Detectives started to look into the case with the Cork code name last May when they received information about a suspected contract murder that was allegedly committed in 2012.
The dead body of the victim was uncovered in Ralsko in mid-November 2015.
Detectives then detained two Czechs and they found several arms in their homes. They also accused another Czech, who was serving his prison sentence for another crime, of the murder. The fourth suspect is a Slovak detained in Slovakia on the basis of a European arrest warrant.
Everything indicates that the victim is a Slovak man born in 1974, Hantak said, adding that the murder occurred in October 2012 after a mutual deal between the contractors from Slovakia and the perpetrators in the Czech Republic.
“The murdered man became an inconvenient witness to an extensive and long-lasting drug trafficking in which he was reportedly involved for some time. However, then his behaviour started to threaten the routine business and it was decided to temporarily hide him in Prague. Shortly after his arrival in the capital, certain persons allegedly decided on his removal. It was to be committed for payment at a place prepared beforehand in Ralsko,” Hantak said.
