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