On Saturday, downtown Bratislava will see the 2016 Rainbow Pride march take place, organised by the LGBTi community. The event is supported by nineteen embassies to the Slovak Republic and the European Commission Representation in Slovakia. According to the event's statistics on a social network website, more than 1,400 people are planning to join the march, with almost 3,000 interested. The far-right opposition party, Kotleba - People's Party Our Slovakia, is also using social networks to invite people to a protest against the Rainbow Pride event. Since the party has failed to report its own event to municipal authorities beforehand, according to the party's MP Milan Uhrík, they have only planned a "stroll" through the city, during which protestors will exercise their right to freedom of movement guaranteed by the Slovak Constitution. In the past, rainbow marches were accompanied with extensive security measures. The police force has refused to disclose its response to Kotleba - People's Party Our Slovakia's Saturday activities due to tactical reasons.
When speaking on the topic of far-right extremism, last year Slovak courts sentenced sixteen people for extremism, while all but one got off with conditional sentences. According to the Justice Ministry, this number represents a considerable decline, as the number of people sentenced for extremist crimes has been higher in the past five years, ranging from 38 to 60 per year in the 2010 to 2015 period. The most frequent extremist crimes in 2015 were supporting and promoting groups aimed at suppressing fundamental rights and freedoms, followed by spreading extremist materials, and inciting national, racial and ethnic hatred.
