THE NOVÝ eas daily has to pay Sk5 million ($106,000) to nationalist politician Ján Slota, an appeal court ruled May 21.
Slota sued Nový eas for an article they wrote almost two years ago, and which said that Slota, then head of the Slovak National Party (SNS), had urinated from the terrace of a Bratislava restaurant while "considerably drunk".
"Finally, after years, what I've been saying from the beginning has been proven right - that these were all lies and deceptions," Slota said in reaction to the Žilina regional court verdict.
Slota is infamous for his drinking exploits, and in a recent interview with the Plus 7 dní weekly, explained that he did not think he was an alcoholic because "an alcoholic is someone who is drunk after three shots of borovieka [hard alcohol] and three beers.
"When I drink that quantity, I don't even notice it," Slota said.
Claiming that the article had caused great damage in his life, Slota said that the story among other things led to "the beginning of a campaign against me within the SNS".
After the Nový eas story was printed, Slota was recalled from a parliamentary control body supervising the country's intelligence service, and was later replaced in the SNS by Anna Malíková.
