Ivan Lexa

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Ivan Lexa, Ing. (born August 18, 1961 in Bratislava) is the former head of the Slovak Secret Service from 1995 to 1998.^[1][2] One of the closest allies of the former autocratic Prime Minister of Slovakia Vladimír Mečiar, under Lexa the Secret Service committed numerous high-profile politically motivated crimes.

In 2000, Ivan Lexa fled Slovakia and became an international fugitive and target of an intense search by the Interpol.^[3] He was captured in 2002 in Umhlanga, South Africa and extradited back to Slovakia. In the meantime, Lexa changed his looks, losing weight and gaining muscle and tan, making his appearance the focus of cover pages in Slovak media. Slovak courts have never found Ivan Lexa guilty of any wrongdoing and in two cases Lexa was covered by the amnesties granted by then acting President Vladimír Mečiar.^{[citation needed]}