It seems that some politicians in Slovakia are not only immune to the same laws as people on the street, but also live by a different set of morals, where arrogance, hypocracy and complete indifference prevail.
Some politicians and top officials are champions of suing everyone and anyone who dare criticise or speak out against them, as can be seen by the many lawsuits made against the media in Slovakia, for instance, by the likes of Supreme Court Chairman Stefan Harabin, former SNS head Jan Slota or our very own Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Yet another example of how these ‘public servants’ are beyond reproach can be seen in how PM Fico is appealing against the court order from May of this year ordering him to apologise to his predecessor Iveta Radicova for his slanderous comments from 2011 that she was a liar and a fraud and that she knew about bribery surrounding the Osrblie biathlon sports facility, which saw one of her advisors charged.
If the PM had some proof of Radicova’s involvement or corroboration, surely he should have presented it to the authorities conducting the investigation, otherwise his comments would constitute a slur, an opinion held by the District Court in Pezinok. Not quite so, as PM Fico, like many others before him, refuses to apologise for his accusations against then Prime Minister Radicova and instead has filed an appeal, which given the state of the Slovak judicial system will most likely be accommodated.
Fico’s spokeswoman Beatrice Szaboova brought the PM down to the level of the ordinary man when announcing how the PM had made use of his right of appeal “just like many citizens before him”. The court demanded that Fico publish an official statement in the media that his claims abot Radicova having knowledge of corruption in the Osrblie case awere untrue, but it is only a court ruling, after all.
This was not the only time the courts ‘requested’ Mr Fico to apologise for his accusations, as the District Court in Bratislava ruled he was to apologise to former finance minister Ivan Miklos after seven and a half years of court wranglings for his accusations that Miklos had most likely earned his money from privatisation commissions. Fico appealed against that ruling as well so it seems apologising is not exactly his strong point.
On the other hand, the Prime Minister is more than willing to take the media to court, and not even for slurs or accusations, but for a mere comical cartoon, for instance, like that of caricaturist Shooty. After years of the courts dealing with the case, PM Fico eventually lost his claim to EUR 33,000, so there may still be some hope of justice in the warped Slovak justice system, and of having politicians being treated, and treating others, equally, no matter how small the chance. We would like to apologise in advance if we have offended anyone by this article.