Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR/AP)
A homeless person was fined in downtown Bratislava on March 13, after being stopped by the police. He was fined with €100, with police saying he violated the curfew rules and did not show any justifiable proof that he was entitled to an exception.
“The person approved of the fine by signing the document,” said Michal Szeiff, spokesperson of the Regional Police Corps Department in Bratislava, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
The incident caused an uproar. The Vagus civic association, which works with homeless people, said that the man was homeless. Although he has been living in Bratislava for several years, his permanent residence is in Slovenská Ľupča, central Slovakia, meaning that the police fined him for violating the rule that bans travelling between districts.
“This absurd situation happened when it is permitted to go to nature, to shop,” Vagus wrote on Facebook. “This person was randomly stopped by the police and was asked to show his ID card. The police fined him though he said he was homeless. He was wearing the FFP2 respirator and carried confirmation on recovering from Covid.”
