Not only in the Czech Republic, but also in Slovakia, the “90s” were wild. There were shootings in broad daylight, robberies, cars blowing up, and people who fell out of favor with the Slovak mafia disappeared without a trace.
Mikuláš Černák (1966) was one of the infamous figures of the underworld at that time. A native of the small village of Telgárt (formerly Švermovo), he first learned to be a car mechanic, but later made a living as a bus driver. Already at that time he was in trouble with the law for petty theft and carjacking.
But then the nineties came and Mikuláš started “business” together with his friends Jan Kán and Miloš Kaštan. Their record included collection of burning fees, stealing cars, smuggling, but soon cases of extortion in order to transfer property were also added. From there, it was just a step to murders, including contract murders.
According to later confessions, Mikuláš Černák personally participated in 16 murders between 1992-1997, and at least another 40 victims were the responsibility of his gang, nicknamed “Černákovci”. Their specialty was cutting off the victim’s head and installing it in a public place.
This is also the fate of the police officer Gustav Slivenský, whose head “decorated” with a police cap was found by random pedestrians displayed on the hood of a car in Poprad in March 1997. It was only later that it was discovered that he was murdered in the service areas of the Poprad hotel, which was owned by another mafia member, Milan Reichel. The charred remains of Slivenský’s body were later found, unlike the bodies of the other victims.
The Černakovci – as the group of about 20 people around the main boss were nicknamed – seemed to go unpunished. After all, it was later proven that thanks to bribes, not only the police, but also judges, prosecutors and members of the Slovak secret service SIS held a protective hand over them.
The gang members did go to the interrogations, but they didn’t do anything about them. Shortly after one, the Slovak media even recorded a conflict at the ski slope, where Černák had a rough time with the wire waiting for the lift, knocking down Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda.
The lover and breeder of tigers, who officially appeared as the owner of a construction company, boarding house, discotheque and security service, did not imagine that he could end up in prison. There were 15,000 pages of files and 3 prosecutors against him, as many as 8 defense attorneys sat on the side of the accused.
Černák’s neck was finally broken by the statements of his closest collaborators + a whole series of direct and indirect evidence. In the final, he was recognized as the perpetrator of 6 murders. The judge who gave him the maximum sentence remembers him as a cultured and always perfectly prepared defendant who sometimes had more knowledge of the law than his own defense attorneys.
It seems that Mikuláš Černák has not lost his interest in legal aspects even behind bars. A civic association was established three years ago Restart – a chance to return, where one of Černák’s former defense attorneys also appears. It was this association that submitted a proposal on behalf of Černák for his parole after 25 years
The negotiations took place last week behind closed doors and due to procedural irregularities on the part of the party Restart the decision had to be postponed for a week. The final verdict is due on May 2.
The life story of Mikuláš Černák, who may see freedom for a quarter of a century, is not dissimilar to the stories of Ivan Jonák, the owner of Discoland Sylvia or the murderer Jiří Kajínek, who was pardoned by the President of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman. During the nineties, they too felt that the whole world was at their feet, only to discover that there are still laws and rules in society.
Just as in the case of the Czech standouts, the life journey of Mikuláš Černák fascinates in a way and makes them “anti-heroes”. Articles are devoted to them, and even films are made about them, which in a way fit criminals and rogues into modern-day “Jánošík”. Jiří Kajínek, Radovan Krejčí or František Mrázek have already filmed their “monuments”, and the film “Miki” about Mikuláš Čermák is currently being prepared.
The days of modern-day robbers have already rung, now we have a completely different level of criminals – they usually wear white collars and instead of pistols, computers and looping between laws are all they need to commit robberies.
