Slovak justice minister won't take action against criminal court chair

Slovakia's Justice Minister Gabor Gal will not take action against Specialised Criminal Court (STS) chair Michal Truban, Justice Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Drobova told TASR on Monday. Gal said that he called the STS chairman in for a personal meeting and gave him the opportunity to clarify information in the media, including with written documents. "As he provided them, and neither the Judicial Council nor judges of this court filed any formal objection ... it wasn't possible to assess that the court chairman proceeded incorrectly," said Gal. Former Slovak Intelligence Service member (SIS) Peter Toth testified in court last month concerning Jan Kuciak's murder. According to him, Truban was allegedly among those whom Marian K., who is being tried for ordering the murder of Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, wanted to influence in order to be released from custody. The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party has called on Gal to oust Truban from the post of STS chair.