Tennis star Alexander Zverev and former partner settle assault case
By Nadine Schmidt and Sammy Mncwabe, CNN
(CNN) — German tennis star Alexander Zverev and his former partner have agreed to settle his assault case, with no admission of guilt by Zverev, the Berlin Tiergarten District Court announced in a statement on Friday.
Zverev was accused of “physically abusing and damaging the health of a woman during an argument in Berlin in May 2020,” according to a court statement from October 31, 2023.
The 27-year-old was alleged to have “briefly strangled his then partner on the neck with both hands in the stairwell of a Berlin apartment building during an argument,” court documents had stated. The alleged victim was said to have suffered shortness of breath and considerable pain, according to the court statement.
Zverev was given a penalty order and fined €450,000 ($478,000) on October 2, 2023. He denied the allegations and lodged an appeal.
The trial began on May 31 and was scheduled to proceed over several days until July 19, but ended after three days.
“The defendant and the co-plaintiff had agreed to the proceedings being discontinued,” the court said in its statement Friday.
Zverev has been ordered by the court to pay a fine of €200,000 ($217,846) of which €150,000 ($163,381) will go to the state treasury and €50,000 ($54,457) will go to the “Collection Fund for Fines in Favour of Charitable Institutions” run by the Berlin Court of Appeal.
In a statement to CNN on Friday, the tennis star’s lawyers said, “Alexander Zverev has agreed to this discontinuation via his defense lawyer, solely in order to shorten the proceedings – above all in the interests of their child.
“Alexander Zverev is considered innocent. The dismissal does not constitute a finding of guilt or an admission of guilt. The legal presumption of innocence remains unaffected.”
CNN has reached out the plaintiff’s lawyers for comment.
Zverev is scheduled to play Norwegian Casper Ruud in the French Open semifinal on Friday with both players in search of a first grand slam title.
The-CNN-Wire
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