Mario R. is the first Slovak who is accused of participating in the war in Ukraine on the side of Russian terrorists. The accused will be tried in absentia because he still remains in the Donbas.

The investigator of the anti-terrorist unit of the National Criminal Bureau (NAKA) is accusing Mario R. of participating in an illegal organized armed unit on the territory of a foreign state. “If the charges are proven, he will face 2 to 8 years in prison,” said a representative of the Slovak police in the social media on Monday.

“This is the first case when a citizen of Slovakia faces charges for an active participation in fighting in the armed conflict in Ukraine against Ukrainian army,” police adds.

Since 2015

The parliament of Slovakia added a new article “Participation in fighting as part of an organized armed unit on the territory of a foreign state” to the Criminal code when it became known that a number of Slovaks had joined Russian terrorists in Eastern Ukraine.

“At least since July 2015, the accused Mario R. participated with weapons in organized armed units fighting on the side of pro-Russian separatists. He participated, and still actively participates, in armed hostilities, performed by organized armed units on the territory of a foreign state, in particular – in Donetsk Oblast of the Donbas region,” said Slovakian police.

According to the Dennik N newspaper, Mario R. is a former skinhead from the town of Banská Bystrica, who had previously been convicted for 7 crimes. When a journalist asked him, whether he shot anybody in Ukraine, he replied “Just fascists”.

At least 4 Slovak citizens have been involved in the war in the Donbas.

Original source: Novinky.cz 

Author: Ivan Vilíček, Právo.http://www.pravo.cz/

Translated to Ukrainian by Sviatoslav Shchihol

Translated to English: Maksym Sviezhentsev

Edited by Max Alginin