The former deputy director of a police station in Košice who was dismissed from the police after a scandal over his subordinates' mistreatment of Roma boys in 2009 may return to the police force, according to a new ruling by the Supreme Court, the TASR newswire reported on July 15.
Several police officers were sacked from the police after video footage was posted on the internet showing policemen ordering six Roma boys to take off their clothes and slap each other. The Roma boys were suspected of assaulting and robbing an elderly woman.
An investigator pressed charges of misuse of public office as well as blackmail against ten officers. The deputy director was not among the charged officers, but had to accept executive responsibility for what had happened under his watch, the investigator stated back in 2009.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Interior Ministry, which initiated the dismissal of the deputy director, did not provide sufficient evidence that he was aware of what his subordinates were doing. The court also dismissed the argument that the deputy director should have been alerted by the barking of dogs at the police station, TASR wrote.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
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