Court in Humenné acquits four police officers accused of fine manipulation
Traffic police officers in Humenné faced accusations that they had concealed fines for speeding violations. The judge acquitted them on the grounds that these constituted breaches of service regulations rather than criminal offences.
Court in Humenné acquits four police officers accused of fine manipulation
A single judge in eastern Slovakia acquitted four traffic police officers who had been under investigation for twenty months on allegations of abuse of authority. According to the indictment, they allegedly exchanged the identities of drivers who had exceeded the speed limit for the details of their colleagues and subsequently covered up the case. The ruling is not yet final, as the state prosecutor has appealed. Further details were reported by the news website Noviny.sk.
The prosecution argued that the accused had acted with the intention of obtaining a benefit. At court, the statement was made that they had repurposed the motto "Help and protect" into "Help and protect your own interests". The defence, however, objected that the indictment was imprecise, vague and did not demonstrate any concrete benefit. The lawyers also pointed out that the inspection service had proceeded differently – in Bardejov, it addressed similar conduct only through disciplinary measures, without criminal prosecution.
All four men denied guilt during the main hearing. One of them stated that he felt no responsibility because the conduct described did not meet the elements of a criminal offence.
The judge concluded that although the accused had indeed acted in breach of regulations, their conduct should have been dealt with as a breach of service regulations. A superior could have issued them a reprimand, a salary deduction or dismissed them. He considered criminal consequences to be inappropriate.
The prosecution filed an appeal, so the case will be further examined by a higher court.
Source: Google News SK — Crime (sk)