A scene from the play. (source: SITA)
The police have definitely stopped the efforts of far-right People’s Party – Our Slovakia (ĽSNS) led by Marian Kotleba to ban the theatre play titled “Natálka”.
They turned down the criminal complaint submitted by ĽSNS MPs who were joined by the former candidate for the ombudsman post Anton Čulen, the Nový Čas daily reported.
The performance is based on a real case from the Czech Republic. Back in 2009, a group of extremists attacked a Roma family with Molotov cocktails, leaving a two-year-old girl with 80 percent of her body burnt.
In their complaint, the ĽSNS MPs claimed that the theatre may have committed the crime of defamation of nation, race and belief. He complained about a performance of the play at a grammar school in Pezinok (Bratislava Region). The reason is that at one point a masked man writes fascist statements which are accompanied by a swastika. Moreover, in other scenes a swastika is covered by a statue of the Virgin Mary.
“The investigator of the National Criminal Agency dismissed the criminal complaint,” Police Corps spokesperson Martin Wäldl confirmed to Nový Čas.
The performance is currently played mostly at schools in the Bratislava Region, where governor Pavol Frešo welcomed the decision.
“It is a project through which young people can freely express their opinion on controversial issues,” Frešo said, as quoted by Nový Čas, calling on others not to be afraid of extremism.
The actors who play in the performance also appreciate the decision, according to the daily.
