Police officer accused in case of wrongfully convinced man

THE INSPECTION of the Interior Ministry found out that if was the police officer who failed in the case of Peter Végh who was sentenced to 16 months in prison for a theft that he did not commit. Though he had a DNA sample proving that Peter Végh was innocent, he had not reported it to the Interior Ministry or the court.

THE INSPECTION of the Interior Ministry found out that if was the police officer who failed in the case of Peter Végh who was sentenced to 16 months in prison for a theft that he did not commit. Though he had a DNA sample proving that Peter Végh was innocent, he had not reported it to the Interior Ministry or the court.

“I do not understand it, to be honest,” Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák said, as quoted by the SITA newswire.

The story was broken by private broadcaster TV Markíza on September 21. It reported that Végh served his sentence in the prison in Leopoldov, even though he was innocent. The case started in December 2010 when a young man attempted to rob a newsstand in Bratislava, but police officers caught him at the scene, according to TV Markíza. The man, without any personal documents, claimed his name was Peter Végh and police officers believed him. They accused him and the court sent the man to prison for 16 months.

The broadcaster reported that the man who attempted to rob the stall was in fact Végh’s brother Martin, which has been reportedly proved by fingerprints. The broadcaster also sent the comparison of the fingerprints of the two brothers to the police, the prosecutor’s office and the court. Moreover, the broadcast received a confession from Martin Végh, who apologised and said it should be him sitting behind bars, and not his brother.

The Interior Ministry inspection found out that the police could have used the DNA analysis that confirmed it was Martin who was at the crime scene, SITA wrote. The commissioned police officer was to report the finding to the prosecutor’s office and the court in order not to continue in the prosecution and investigate another culprit, Kaliňák said.

“This did not happen, so the investigator of the inspection charged the police officer for neglecting important duties of public official,” Kaliňák added, as quoted by SITA.

Source: SITA

Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports

The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.

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