According to the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, the Slovak Supreme Court justifies hate speech against the Roma minority and in fact legitimizes the view that Roma are inferior and their dignity is less than the dignity of other citizens of Slovakia. This comes as a reaction to the decision of the Supreme Court regarding an appeal filed by the former Justice Minister Lucia Žitňanská, now an opposition MP, by which it upheld the ruling of the Regional Court in Banská Bystrica.
According to the Supreme Court’s opinion, the distribution of leaflets including the text “With your trust, I can (among other things) do away with unfair favouritism for not only Gypsy parasites” does not amount to the offense of defamation of nation, race, and beliefs. These leaflets were distributed ahead of regional elections in 2009 by Marian Kotleba as an independent candidate for the head of the Banská Bystrica County. In the initial verdict, the Regional Court concluded that the text of the leaflet is not directed against the Roma ethnic group. According to the court, Kotleba did not mean in the text the Roma ethnic group as a whole, but only of those who stoked the benefits offered by society and ultimately not only ‘parasites’ of this ethnic group, but also ‘parasites’ from the majority population, which is highlighted by the conjunction ”not only” in its text.
Anca Dragu
