MIKLÓS Duray, an MP for the ruling Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK), refused to submit to a breath test for alcohol after police stopped him for speeding.
Police officers said that it was apparent that the MP had been drinking, but Duray maintains that he did nothing wrong.
According to the TV Markíza commercial station, police stopped the MP in the evening on April 18 at a gas station in Bratislava after tailing his car for at least two kilometers. Police tracked the car driving at 113 kilometres per hour over the Prístavný most bridge in Bratislava where the speed limit is 80 kilometers per hour.
"I didn't realize that someone was following me," Duray said, but denied having been drinking.
However, according to the TV's station's sources, the MP admitted to the police that he had shared a bottle of wine with four other people.
According to SMK Chairman Béla Bugár, the news came as a "cold shower" to him. He said the party would deal with the issue.
As of May 1, MPs in Slovakia will not enjoy immunity from prosecution for driving under the influence of alcohol. However, the SME daily noted, if MPs refuse to submit to breath tests, it is qualified as a misdemeanor, from which they are continue to be protected by their immunity as MPs.
Former Justice Minister Daniel Lipšic said that the situation illustrates the absurdity of recent changes to the law on MP immunity, which in his opinion should not have been approved.
