Only about 50 people attended the latest Gorilla rally, which took place on September 9 on SNP Square in Bratislava. The attendees included investigative journalist Tom Nicholson who penned a book about the Gorilla file, a document allegedly written by the Slovak Information Service (SIS) intelligence agency that points to corruption and cronyism in Slovak politics, the TASR newswire reported.
During his speech Nicholson noted that in nearly six months since the government of Robert Fico was appointed no new information concerning an investigation into the allegations has appeared. That is partly why such protests matter, he said.
Meanwhile, the organisers of the rally began to collect signatures to urge the dismissal of Police Corps President Tibor Gašpar, who allegedly discredited himself by having the file in his possession even before it appeared in public, but failed to launch an investigation into the matter.
Moreover, a group of hackers called Anonymous backed the protest, albeit in its own way, as it rendered the website of the Office of the Prosecutor General non-functional shortly after the rally began, TASR wrote.
The Gorilla wiretapping scandal was unleashed after an eponymous alleged SIS file alluding to corrupt practices among senior Slovak officials in years 2005-6 was published on the internet in December 2011. It prompted an immediate public outcry, with massive protests occurring in Bratislava and other places throughout the country.
Yet, protest organisers stopped organising them shortly after the March general election.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
