This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A man who was fined €70 ($75) after unleashing a sonorous post-kebab belch near an Austrian policeman has won his legal fight to have the sanction overturned.

Vienna police fine man €70 for 'loud belch' Read more

Edin Mehic was issued the fine in February 2016 for violating “public decency with a loud belch next to a police officer” in Vienna’s famous Prater Park.

But a court document Mehic emailed to the Associated Press on Friday shows authorities have ruled in his favour. It says there was “never proof” that he burped to affront the officer.

Writing on Facebook after the incident, the local bar worker said he burped after eating a kebab with too much onion.

Moments later, he wrote: “I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“But what had I done? … I was being reported for a ‘decency violation’, the policeman shouted.

“I had a long discussion with him about why he wasn’t picking up real criminals who were obviously consuming and selling completely legal [sic] drugs. That didn’t get us very far.”

Mehic’s belch resonated in Austria long after it was emitted. Groups organised to support him, and a kebab chain paid for both his ticket and an all-expenses trip to Istanbul.

Associated Press contributed to this report