Vladimír Weiss (source: TASR)
A player of Slovakia’s national football team, Vladimír Weiss Jr., was not driving in the centre of Bratislava in October 2016 under the influence of alcohol. A prosecutor of the Bratislava district prosecutor’s office halted a prosecution against him on April 5.
“There’s no doubt that the activity that was the cause of the prosecution didn’t take place,” said Michal Šúrek, spokesperson for the Bratislava regional prosecutor’s office, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Weiss’s lawyer Juraj Kuráň said he still has not received any official decision concerning his client.
“I’ve learnt from the media that it was decided that the activity didn’t take place – which we’ve basically been claiming all along,” Kuráň told TASR. “Of course, one can now express satisfaction that the mechanisms of a law-based state work in Slovakia, and ... metaphorically speaking, justice has been done. My client’s name has thus been cleared.”
The police concluded an investigation into Weiss’s alleged drunk driving in March, recommending that the Bratislava district prosecutor’s office should press charges.
A luxury car with Weiss Jr. allegedly at the wheel and as many as nine other people inside was stopped by a police patrol in the centre of Bratislava in the small hours of October 2 of last year. The former Manchester City attacking midfielder refused to take a breathalyser test, whereby he was considered by the law to be driving with 1 part per thousand of alcohol in his blood. He was taken to a police cell, eventually spending more than 30 hours there.
However, his lawyer complained that the police accusation was based on the testimony of merely one witness: a police officer, while three passengers in the car testified that Weiss, who currently plays for Al-Gharafa (Qatar), was not actually at the wheel, TASR reported.
Meanwhile, General Prosecutor Jaromír Čižnár ordered a check into the decision to stop the prosecution. Both the General Prosecutor’s Office and the regional prosecutor’s office in Bratislava have asked for an investigation file, the Denník N daily reported.
