Tennis professional Alexander Zverev is to pay a fine of 450,000 euros for bodily harm. Because he has lodged an objection against this, a trial is now taking place.
Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev has to stand trial in Berlin. The trial against him is scheduled to begin on May 31st at the Tiergarten district court, a court spokeswoman said when asked on Monday. Deutsche Welle had previously reported. The background is a penalty order that the district court imposed on the professional athlete in October 2023. Accordingly, Zverev should pay a fine of 450,000 euros (90 daily rates of 5,000 euros each) for bodily harm. However, the tennis player denies the accusation and has lodged an objection. That’s why the trial is now taking place.
Allegations of mistreatment
According to the court spokeswoman, eight days of negotiations are initially planned until July 19th. It has not yet been decided who will be heard as a witness. Since it involves a criminal order, Zverev can be represented by a lawyer, the spokeswoman explained. “A personal appearance is not required.”
The 26-year-old is accused of physically abusing a woman during an argument in Berlin in May 2020. The alleged injured party appears as a co-plaintiff in the proceedings. Zverev is presumed innocent until he is legally convicted.
The professional athlete’s lawyers announced last October when the court announced that the allegations underlying the penalty order had already been refuted by a report from a Berlin forensic doctor. The procedure suffers from “the most serious procedural violations”. Zverev will take action against this with “all means possible,” according to a press release from Zverev’s lawyers.
Zverev himself spoke publicly about the accusation for the first time in July 2023 at the tournament in Hamburg. At that time he said: “From my side: I completely reject the allegations. My lawyers are taking care of the matter. I won’t say anything more about it.”