BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) -- Using explosives and axes, police Thursday stormed the home of former Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar and arrested him for allegedly paying unauthorized bonuses to Cabinet members during his five years in office.
The Slovak news agency TASR reported that Meciar was released several hours later. The Slovak Interior Ministry declined comment, saying no authorized spokesman was available.Chief investigator Jaroslav Ivor had also said Meciar would be asked about the August 1995 kidnapping of Michal Kovac Jr., son of the then-Slovak president and archrival Michal Kovac Sr. The kidnapping was widely believed to have been carried out by the Slovak secret police while Meciar was prime minister.
The arrest drew strong reaction from the former leader's followers, who said the action was politically motivated. The country's president, Rudolf Schuster, said the charges were not serious enough to have warranted such a strong police operation.
Police spokesman Jozef Sitar said Meciar was believed to have paid bonuses worth the equivalent of $325,000 to Cabinet members "even though this was in contradiction with the law," Sitar said.
Radio reporter Karol Lovas -- who was present during the raid on Meciar's home in Trenciaske Teplice, 85 miles north of Bratislava -- said police arrived in the morning, rang the doorbell and called several times by loudspeaker for Meciar to open the door.
After Meciar failed to respond, up to 40 police commandos stormed the house, blowing up one door with explosives and smashing a second with axes, Lovas said by telephone. Meciar emerged soon afterward under police escort. He appeared calm and chatted with some of the arresting officers before getting into a car for the ride to Bratislava, Lovas added.
Meciar's spokesman, Marian Kardos, said his Movement for a Democratic Slovakia held Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda responsible "for this unbelievably brutal act and abuse of the police." Dzurinda was Meciar's successor.
Meciar ruled Slovakia as prime minister from the 1993 breakup of Czechoslovakia until 1998. Although he was widely criticized for blocking dissent, clamping down on the media and stifling the economy, he is believed to retain a strong core of support.
The arrest occurred after Meciar refused to appear before police to answer questions in the abduction of the son of the former president, Meciar's main political rival. The kidnapping was widely believed to have been masterminded by Meciar's agents in the Slovak Intelligence Service.
The younger Kovac was released unharmed in neighboring Austria, but allegations that Meciar was involved have dogged him ever since despite his denials that he was involved. No one has been charged in the case, and police say the investigation cannot be completed without Meciar's testimony.
Under Meciar, Slovakia was shunned by the European Union and the United States, which viewed him as authoritarian and undemocratic. The country was excluded from the first group of candidates for European Union membership and failed to be added to NATO along with three other former communist countries.
After a coalition led by Dzurinda defeated Meciar's party in the 1998 elections, Slovakia's relations with the EU have improved dramatically, and the country was invited to begin membership talks.
Dzurinda's Cabinet members also received bonuses, but after the courts ruled them illegal, the money was returned. Some of Meciar's former ministers disputed the court finding and said they would never give back the money.