Court Hands Down Suspended Sentence in Bullied Girl Case in Miloslavov

Bratislava, 14 November (TASR) - Defendant Ela M. (name abbreviated due to legal reasons), who was charged with bullying a girl from Miloslavov near Bratislava in January 2022, has been found guilty of misdemeanours of bodily harm and disorderly conduct by Bratislava I Municipal Court, receiving a twelve-month suspended prison sentence with probation of 30 months, TASR reported on Friday. The verdict reached by judge Juraj Kapinaj isn't final yet, as the parties to the proceedings may appeal against it. Ela M. is also banned from drinking alcohol and other addictive substances and is not allowed to enter the premises where the act was committed. She must also publicly apologise to the victim, who was eleven years old at that time, and complete a training programme. According to the court, the sentence reflects the brutality of the act committed. "The videos show that you were having fun," said Kapinaj, adding that the incident occurred in the presence of other minors, who agreed that the motive behind the defendant's actions involved such a trivial thing as the victim spilling a Kofola soft drink. "It was only due to the sanity of certain minors present at the scene that this case did not end up worse. You were actually discussing whether to leave the injured minor there and walk away claiming that you had never seen her," said the judge. Defence counsel Jozef Obert said that the defence respects the verdict, but couldn't agree with the legal qualification of misdemeanour of bodily harm. He added that the defendant regrets her actions and will publicly apologise to the victim. Bratislava Regional Prosecutor's Office said that it wouldn't appeal against the verdict and emphasised that "extensive evidence presented at the main hearing proved that the defendant committed the act as described in the indictment". It is also important that the defendant has an obligation to publicly apologise during the probationary period and undergo a social training or other educational programme, said the prosecutor. In January 2022, a group of teenagers attacked the victim in Miloslavov, forcing her to drink alcohol and undressing her on the premises of a former farm. The group took photos and recorded footage of the incident on phones and later released the pictures and videos on social networks. jrg/df