A Trenčín District Court judge ruled on Monday, May 27 that former TV Markíza anchorman Rastislav Žitný should be immediately released on parole, the TASR newswire reported. The court also ruled that Žitný, who was sentenced to two years in prison for killing a five-year-old boy in a traffic accident in Rohožník in June, 2008, will now face a one-year probationary period.
According to the court, Žitný, now 36, has complied with requirements in order to be granted parole. The court also cited his good conduct while in prison. The district prosecutor also recommended releasing the ex-anchorman, with himself as well as Žitný's attorney, Ladislav Kuruc, forgoing the option of appealing against the decision.
The District Court in Malacky (Bratislava region) in October 2011 sentenced Žitný to 2.5 years in prison, but the Bratislava Regional Court then mitigated the sentence to two years. He began his jail term in the lowest-security prison unit in Trenčín on 18 April 2012.
Žitný was convicted of killing a five-year-old boy and causing grievous bodily harm to the boy's brother and father in a traffic fatality. At the time of the accident, he was speeding at 139 kilometres per hour while talking on his mobile phone. He lost control of his Audi and hit the boy, his father and the boy's eight-year-old brother, who were all cycling. A number of witnesses and experts were heard at the court proceedings dealing with the case, which received huge media attention in Slovakia. In his defence, Žitný explained the traffic fatality as an unintentional incident caused when he blacked out (induced by severe back pain) for a few seconds before hitting the cyclists.
(Source: TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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