Bratislava "For Decent Slovakia" gathering on March 16, 2018. (source: Braňo Lengyel & Nina Nováková)
The For Decent Slovakia initiative has arranged two more gatherings in Bratislava and Humenné, for Sunday, April 15. The protests will begin at 16:00 in both cities, the Sme daily wrote on April 10.
Why Sunday?
Organizers opted for Sunday because it is the most appropriate day for people to travel to protest sites.
“With the agreement of all organisers of meetings around Slovakia, we are going to meet again in the east, in Humenné, and in the west, in Bratislava,” organisers told the daily. “In this way, we want to symbolically express the unity across all Slovak regions from the beginning to the end of the country,” they explained.
Demands behind the protests
The demands of protesters remain the same and organizers believe their fulfillment should restore the trust of people in the state.
“Almost six weeks have passed since the murder of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová,” organisers said, as quoted by Sme. “Despite politicians’ promises of structural changes and taking personal responsibility, no real changes have been made, especially at the Interior Ministry,” they noted, adding that instead, they keep hearing excuses and they perceive the threat of looming “normalisation” from both politicians and the top management of the public-service broadcaster, RTVS.
Gašpar and Kováčik to go
Organisers are requesting the dismissal of Police President Tibor Gašpar, the establishment of an independent police inspection, and a change in the selection method of police corps’ management.
Moreover, they want Special Prosecutor Dušan Kováčik to resign, and a change in the election of the person for this position.
Police and the Special Prosecutor’s Office are institutions that ignore corruption scandals which the murdered journalist and his colleagues had written about, they argue.
At the meetings, the organisers also want to talk about further steps of the initiative. Meetings are prepared in cooperation with organisers of meetings in other Slovak cities. They also send a message to the Slovak public, saying that they should not mistake decency for lack of resolution and perseverance, Sme wrote.
