Slovak Interior Ministry Again Seeks to Remove Pavol Ďurka

The Slovak Ministry of Interior is attempting to once again remove police investigator Pavol Ďurka from service. According to reporting from Aktuality, a new proposal has been submitted to place the investigator under a status described as house arrest.

This latest move follows a significant legal defeat for Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok, who previously attempted to suspend Ďurka and other investigators associated with a group known as the čurillovci.

Previous Court Ruling on Suspension

On November 19, 2025, the Administrative Court in Bratislava overturned a decision by Minister Šutaj Eštok to suspend Pavol Ďurka. The court found that the minister had acted unlawfully when he removed the former National Crime Agency (NAKA) investigator from his duties.

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The ruling, delivered by senate chairman Juraj Štorcel, specifically annulled a personnel order dated October 27, 2023, as well as a subsequent decision from February 19, 2024. The court ordered that the matter be returned to the public administration authorities for further proceedings and granted Ďurka the right to full reimbursement of legal costs.

Peter Kubina, the legal representative for Pavol Ďurka, stated that the court agreed with all essential points of the lawsuit. Kubina asserted that the Interior Minister violated multiple statutes in his attempt to suspend the investigator, specifically citing the law on the state service of police officers and the law on the protection of whistleblowers.

Súd nám dal za pravdu vo všetkých podstatných bodoch žaloby. Potvrdil, že minister vnútra postavil Pavla Ďurku mimo služby nezákonne. Porušil pri tom všetky zákony, ktoré mu stáli v ceste. Nielen zákon o ochrane oznamovateľov, ale aj zákon o štátnej službe policajtov

Peter Kubina

The November 2025 judgment was immediately enforceable upon delivery. Pavol Ďurka was permitted to return to active duty and was assigned to work as an investigator at the district directorate in Nitra. The ruling mandated that the state pay Ďurka the full amount of lost wages for the two years he was kept out of service.

The ‘Čurillovci’ and Whistleblower Status

The legal dispute is part of a broader conflict involving a group of police officers known as the čurillovci, who are associated with Ján Čurilla. Upon taking office, Minister Šutaj Eštok temporarily stripped several of these officers of their state service duties, citing suspicions of criminal activity.

However, the officers involved held the status of protected whistleblowers regarding anti-social activity. The Office for the Protection of Whistleblowers indicated that the minister should have consulted the office before taking action against individuals with this legal status.

The November 19, 2025, decision was noted by legal counsel as the first final merit-based court ruling addressing the legality of the Interior Minister’s procedures regarding the čurillovci group. Kubina indicated that other lawsuits filed by similarly suspended officers are identical in both legal and factual terms, suggesting that the ruling sets a precedent for other members of the group.

Ministerial Response and Current Status

Following the court’s decision in November 2025, Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok stated that he respected the ruling of the Administrative Court in Bratislava. Despite this, he maintained that the ministry’s original procedures were correct and announced the intention to file a cassation complaint.

Legal representatives for Ďurka clarified at the time that while a cassation complaint could be filed, such a complaint does not have a suspensive effect in administrative proceedings, meaning the first-instance verdict remained valid upon delivery.

The current attempt by the Ministry of Interior on April 10, 2026, to again remove Pavol Ďurka through a new proposal for house arrest indicates a continued effort by the ministry to distance the investigator from active police service despite the previous judicial findings of unlawfulness.