Boris Peña, former deputy head of the Slovak Secret Service (SIS), was arrested in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on suspicion of espionage, Slovak Interior Minister Mátoš Štaj Istok (Hlas) reported on Thursday.
We have information from intelligence that he was arrested there on suspicion of espionage
– said the minister who learned about the matter early Wednesday evening.
The Ministry of Justice informed TASR that no case file on Beňa has been registered with the Department for Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters, and it has no information about his detention abroad – mentioned About it in the parameter.
Petr Kubina, Bina's lawyer, stated that his client is not wanted in Slovakia, and is allegedly in Africa for work-related reasons:
“You have been legally residing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the purpose of work for approximately half a year. The Slovak authorities were notified in advance of his departure, so in addition to the conditional prison sentence imposed on him, he was also ordered to be placed under surveillance,” he added. he addedthat Pena was returning to Slovakia on Sunday.
In 2021, Boris Peña was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years, and ordered to pay a fine of €14,000, after the Specialized Criminal Court accepted the plea deal concluded by the former intelligence chief and the prosecutor.
Beňa was charged with accepting bribes and misdemeanor endangerment of confidential information. He was arrested in December 2020 during operation known as “Judas.”
Beňa was a Crown witness in several major cases, for example, he testified against former intelligence director Vladimir Polinsky.
Ploska in Slovak He wrote about itThe arrest took place in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
