The office of the president won't be the last stop for the Press Code approved by the Slovak Parliament last week, President Ivan Gašparovič said at a news conference at the Council of Europe.
Gašparovič suggested there could be a court challenge in store for the legislation, which critics say limits freedom of speech. The law now awaits the president’s signature, the TASR newswire wrote.
Gašparovič said he does not believe the Code limits freedom of the press. On the contrary, it expands freedom of speech because it provides a more level playing field for journalists and those they write about, he said.
He said that by signing it soon, he will expedite the Code’s path to the Constitutional Court (a step being planned by opposition MPs) and, maybe, to the European Court for Human Rights. These institutions have to be confident that we will respect their verdict, he said.
Upon Gašparovič’s signature, the law will go into effect as of June 1, 2008. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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