THE NÁMESTOVO District Court exonerated Juraj Bernaťák, mayor of Trstená (Žilina Region), of charges relating to blackmail and the abuse of a public official’s powers back in 2011 as the director of the Cadastre Directorate in Tvrdošín.
Žilina Regional Court spokesman Jozef Michňa told the TASR newswire that the prosecution has been terminated with acquittal on the grounds that the deed in question is not defined as a crime. The verdict is not valid yet as the prosecutor has appealed it.
Bernaťák considers the case to be nothing but a witch hunt orchestrated against him by influential figures to whose interests he refused to cater when presiding over disputes.
“I have always wanted to make decisions according to the law and not their wishes,” he told TASR. “I gave recommendations to an employee who repeatedly asked me how to decide on a case, but she later filed a criminal complaint against me, claiming that I blackmailed her. I have never feared the verdict because I believe in justice and my conscience is clear.”
If found guilty, Bernaťák would automatically lose his post as mayor.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
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