The video shows police kicking the lying woman. (source: www.cas.sk)
An investigator of the Interior Ministry Inspection charged three police officers of abusing the power of a public official in complicity.
A young female driver sped away from police and refused to stop was then shot at and kicked when lying on the ground. The part of video which shows the kicking was cut by police but has now been published on the internet.
The investigation continues, however, police spokesperson Andrea Dobiášová informed the SITA newswire on March 9. “They face a prison sentence of four to 10 years,” she added.
The incident started on August 2, 2016, after 1:00 am when police tried to stop a Fiat Brava car in Saleziánska Street in Trnava for a suspicious way of driving. When one officer was nearing the driver’s door, the car wheeled off and started escaping – all the way to the village of Madunice. In total 32 shots were made, with two hitting the driver in her chest and ear. Another girl was shot in her shoulder. By that time, the use of coercive force was evaluated as adequate, Sme wrote. Later it turned out that four girls were driving in it, the 21 year old driver driving without a driver's license.
Recently, a longer version of the video was leaked to the media, showing that after the girl was kicking after leaving the car, having already been shot.
The recording showing what happened in reality was published on the www.cas.sk website. The mute video shows two people leave the car with hands up, the rear window broken by shots. They go to the front and lie down on the ground. Three policemen come, kicking the driver brutally in her head and chest. One of them smiles in the camera satisfied, the Sme daily describes.
After police inspection took over, one of the officers argued that they did not know the driver was a woman – and that she resisted detention actively. Also, she threatened his colleague earlier when he wanted to stop the car.
After studying the report and the video recording, chief of the Trnava Flying Motorised Unit of police, Ivan Karper, evaluated that the use of coercive force was unjustified and inadequate.
The three policemen have been charged; but the woman has also been charged for attacking a public official, driving without a license, and being under the influence of drugs.
