MALINOVA CASE: THREE YEARS, MORE LIES, NO PROGRESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000397 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CE J. MOORE E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/11/2019 TAGS: PHUM PREL LO SUBJECT: MALINOVA CASE: THREE YEARS, MORE LIES, NO PROGRESS REF: BRATISLAVA 363 AND PREVIOUS CLASSIFIED BY: Keith A. Eddins, CDA, State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (U) Summary. After "deliberating" for over a year, the Dean of the Medical Faculty of Bratislava's Comenius University, Peter Labas, issued the long-awaited expert opinion in the Hedviga Malinova case on September 8. Malinova is the ethnic Hungarian who was allegedly assaulted by two skinheads in a racially motivated crime in August 2006. She was subsequently charged with perjury when she refused to recant what senior Slovak officials claimed was a fabricated story. In Labas' nine-page report, he concludes that Malinova's multiple injuries were self-inflicted. Of the twelve doctors listed on the expert opinion, none but Labas signed the report. Three of the twelve doctors have since publicly stated that they disagreed with Labas' assessment and/or that they had never even seen the expert opinion. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Prosecutor General Dobroslav Trnka requested a expert evaluation of Hedviga Malinova's medical file in 2008. On September 8, the Dean of the Medical Faculty of Comenius University finally released the results. In the report, Labas states that it is his professional opinion that the scratches, bruises, abdominal pain, concussion, and blood observed by the doctors who treated Malinova in the Nitra hospital on August 25, 2006, were the result of self-inflicted wounds. In July, Labas told the press that two of the doctors who treated Malinova had been subjected to strong pressure from the hospital's director (now deceased) to say Malinova had been beaten. Both doctors denied that had been the case. ¶3. (U) Though Labas himself was the only individual to sign the report, he listed the names of twelve other doctors on the medical faculty whom he claimed participated in the evaluation. Of these twelve, three so far have come forward either to refute Labas' assessment or to deny their participation. Peter Stanko, a dental surgeon, stated publicly that Labas' claim that Malinova bit her own lip is erroneous, as Stanko himself included the possibility that Malinova's mouth injuries were caused by a slap or external impact. Viera Korinkova, a clinical psychologist, sent a letter to Labas on September 9, asking Labas to remove her name from the expert opinion. Korinkova had previously written to Labas in July 2008 refusing to participate in the expert review because she is not a licensed expert. Surgeon Ludek Vrtik stated that his name was on the report without his knowledge or agreement. ¶4. (U) Labas has refused to answer journalists' inquiries, instead replying "I will not communicate. It is an assessment made by the medical department. If someone does not like it, they should give it to someone else." When asked about how the opinion would affect the progress (or lack thereof) in the case, Prosecutor General Trnka's bizarre response was "Did you hear the one about Michelangelo? When Michelangelo was working on the Sistine chapel, the Pope kept asking him when it would be done, and Michelangelo replied 'when I am finished.'" Trnka has since told the media that because the three doctors didn't make their statements in an official setting, i.e., an interview with law enforcement officials, he said he is not convinced by them. ¶5. (C) Comment: While we expected Labas' report to support PM Fico's and Interior Minister Kalinak's September 2006 claims that Malinova was a liar, we are surprised that he had the audacity to put the names of his colleagues on the report. As if the three doctors' statements weren't enough to discredit it, Malinova's lawyer has drafted a detailed point-by-point analysis that highlights how Labas ignored, overlooked or twisted key pieces of information. It is yet another scandalous episode in what is now a more than three-year long miscarriage of justice that is unlikely anytime soon. End Comment. EDDINS