Racial violence case ruling sets precedent

Saying they hoped the decision would signify a turning point in how racial attacks are investigated by Slovak police, international observers and minority groups in Slovakia cautiously applauded an April 27 legal decision in which a white man from Banská Bystrica was prosecuted for a racially motivated crime. According to the press agency SITA, the case is believed to be the first time in Slovak history a judge specified that the "attack against the injured person was motivated by the fact that he is a Roma."During the trial, the defence argued that it had not been unambiguously proven that the attack was driven by racial hatred. Prosecutors, however, used the defendant's regular submission of articles to a newsletter entitled White Pride as incriminating evidence against the attacker.

Skinheads attack refugee

The surge of skinhead offensives which have blighted the social scene over the past several months continued on May 1 in Bratislava when two teenagers with shaven heads attacked three Slovaks on Hodžovo námestie with a knife in front of the president's palace, then jumped onto a bus where they stabbed a 33-year-old Angolan refugee three times. The latest incident again left international observers and minorities in Slovakia calling for an end to the racially-motivated violence.The rampage began shortly before 22:00 when 19-year-old Ladislav Z. and 14-year-old Matej B. attacked three white men on Hodžovo námestie for reasons which have yet to be determined (the Bratislava police headquarters refused to answer questions on the matter, saying only that they had not yet received enough information on the attack to release a statement to the press).

Mečiar charged with abuse of power

The stand-off between the Slovak Police and the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) boss Vladimír Mečiar came to a dramatic head at 9:00 on April 20 when masked commando police units used explosives to blow down the front door of the ex PM's villa in Trenčianske Teplice and formerly charge him with abuse of power and fraud. The charges were related to alleged illegal bonuses totalling 13.82 million Slovak crowns ($321,000) Mečiar gave to various ministers during his last tenure in office from 1994 to 1998.Slovak police had been publicly calling on Mečiar to act as a witness in the 1995 kidnapping case of the former President's son Michal Kováč Jr. for over a month, monitoring his home 24 hours a day in hopes of serving him with a summons to testify.

Minister Miklós: Awareness is our primary goal

A member of the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK), Environment Minister László Miklós says that environmental concern has always been in his blood. A self-described "scientist", he earned his degree from the Faculty of Natural Sciences in Bratislava in 1973. From 1973 till 1990, he worked as a researcher at the Slovak Academy of Science's Institute of Experimental Biology and Ecology.Miklós's political career began in 1990 when he was selected by the Public Against Violence party, which formed the first post-communist Czechoslovak government, for the post of first Vice-Minister of the Environment Ministry. He held that post until 1992, when he returned to the world of academia. Miklós has been Slovak Minister of Environment since national elections in 1998.

Slovan wins hockey crown

Although the PA operators waited until 9:47 remaining in the third period before first playing Queen's We are the Champions, the fifth and final match of the Slovak Extraliga Championship Series had been decided far earlier. Riding the strength of an aggressive offensive attack, a stingy defensive front, and a rowdy more-than-capacity crowd of nearly 8,000 in Bratislava's Zimný Štadión, Slovan Bratislava overwhelmed HKM Zvolen 8 to 1, to win the best-of-five series three games to two.Slovan took control early in the match when Ľubomír Kolník scored in the fifth minute for a one goal advantage. The home team was then staked to a two goal lead when Richard Kapuš (who finished with a goal and three assists) turned in the play of the game: during a Zvolen power-play, Kapuš intercepted a pass at mid-rink, streaked down the centre, and shot past the flailing Zvolen goal-keeper for the short-handed goal.

Ružomberok defends title

The night got off to an inauspicious start for Ružomberok point guard Iveta Bieliková: during her team's first three possessions she netted two turnovers and a missed three-pointer. But thanks to a shot described by her coach as being guided by the "power of God," the 33-year-old veteran will be remembered for making perhaps the biggest three-pointer in the remarkable history of Slovak Women's Basketball to help SCP Ružomberok claim the European Club Championship for the second successive year.Down by three with 15 seconds remaining, Ružomberok drove the lane for an easy two in hopes of crawling to within a point of front-running CJM Bourges of France. But when the lay-up was inexplicably missed, two players from each team scrambled for the lose rebound, batting it around in the air until it was knocked away from the hoop towards Bieliková.

Infovek gets 35 million crown gift

Thanks to parliamentary lobbying by members of the ruling coalition Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ), Project Infovek - a plan which hopes to provide Internet access to every secondary and primary school in Slovakia within five years - has been given a huge cash boost. While requesting only 45 million Slovak crowns from the Education Ministry's budget for the year 2000, Infovek was actually given 80 million Slovak crowns ($1.8 million) in the state budget approved last December, a full 35 million crowns more than their original request."We are extremely excited," said Beata Brestenská, the director of Infovek's education division. "We feel very positive about the future of Project Infovek."

Review: Irish Pub CD to help orphans

Although the children at the Špecializovaný Detský Ústav orphanage at Bratislava's Železna studienka may not yet know it, they inspired the production of Elephants, a three-song CD featuring a cover of the song Whiskey in the Jar by Bratislava cover-band Drink Drank Drunk and Dubliner Irish Pub co-owner Billy Valentino.Drink Drank Drunk (DDD) first played the Irish Pub last summer when an unrehearsed version of the ageless Irish song was performed with 'Billy' on lead vocals. The song became an instant hit at DDD shows, sometimes being performed three times a night.The popularity of the song led Billy's brother, Peter Norton, to suggest a CD. "We were sitting around getting pissed one night last week," said DDD's John Dale on March 3, "and they said they could do it by St. Patty's day. I said, 'bollocks.'"

Privatisation

A slice of country in Petržalka

In April 1994, Eva Zaujecová had a decision to make. Wanting to establish a pub, she had the necessary start-up capital and a bit of space on the basement floor of a Petržalka paneláky building - but what she didn't have was a theme."Country music and folk is my favourite music," she said at her Country Club Dvorana pub. "During socialism the radio stations did not play the music so much, so I thought there would be a demand for this type of theme."Although country tunes evoke images of the wild west, it is here amidst the mammoth concrete blocks of flats in Petržalka that you are likely to hear Willie Nelson singing Don't Fence Me In.

Latest race beating gets police moving

The latest in a recent string of racially motivated beatings in Bratislava has awoken cries of outrage from minority leaders and international observers. Calling violent attacks 'normal occurrences' for non-whites in Slovakia, these groups called on the government and Slovak citizens to end their collective passivity against hate crime.On February 17, two Japanese tourists were attacked by eight male teenagers with shaved heads on Židovská ulica in the Bratislava city centre. Bratislava police spokesperson Marta Bujňáková said that the tourists received "non-serious" injuries which would require five to ten days to heal.Bujňáková said that the police had since detained six of the eight suspects, all of whom were between 16 and 18 years old, and charged them witth hooliganism and causing bodily harm. If convicted they could face three years in prison.

Law firm turf war may result in suits

A legal squabble between Slovak and international attorneys heated up on February 7 when Štefan Detvai, the chairman of the Slovak Chamber of Advocates (or 'bar'), appeared on TV Markíza to accuse the New York-based law firm White & Case of operating without a license in Slovakia. Calling the American firm's activities "totally illegal", Detvai said that the Slovak bar would lay criminal charges against White & Case and all other international law firms operating in a similar way.

Review: Dorian Grey: Better to burn out...

Rock is not dead. In fact, it's alive and kicking in Slovakia thanks to a group of four mainly long-haired throwbacks to the 70's who refuse to let Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, AC DC and Yes (their main influence) be forgotten.Dorian Grey is a Bratislava-based cover band that has been entertaining long-haired crowds of head-bangers in Nazareth and Black Sabbath T-shirts - the same crowd which descended upon Montana's Grizzly Bar in Bratislava to see the band on February 12 - for some seven years. The band has seen a number of changes through its history with the one constant being lead-guitarist Vadim Bušovský. But the addition of lead singer Rasťo Šulc five months ago may end up putting Dorian Grey on the local music scene map.

Lethal cyanide spill kills rivers

The accidental release of 100,000 cubic metres of cyanide-polluted water from a waste-water reservoir in Romania on January 30 has contaminated rivers in Slovakia, Hungary and Serbia. In what is being called the biggest European environmental catastrophe since the meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine in 1986, the poisonous tide has left 'a complete loss of river life' in its wake, ruined the livelihoods of regional fisheries and forced thousands of Hungarian citizens to seek alternative sources of drinking water.The waste-water reservoir in the Romanian town of Baia Mare is home to the Australian gold-mining firm Aurel. CEO Philip J. Evers, who quit after the spill, said that bad weather was to blame for the accident.

Troubled children search for direction at way station

Except for an empty place on either side of 14-year-old Jožo H., the ring of 80 children sitting shoulder to shoulder is completely unbroken. At 12:30 on February 8 - his first day at the Children's Diagnostic Centre in Bratislava - Jožo sits alone, like he has so often in his young life.At the age of three, Jožo's dead-beat dad deserted him and his alcoholic mother. Social workers from the western Slovak town of Trenčín soon intervened, and Jožo has been living in orphanages and children's homes ever since.Jožo will spend three months at the centre for running away from his Trenčín children's home and turning up days later drunk at a Bratislava disco. At the centre's daily 'community' group meeting, his sad eyes are lowered as he introduces himself to the group.

THE LAST WORD

Edmund Muller is the director of the Central European Romany Education and Opportunity Centre in Košice. A champion of the Slovak Romany cause, he has been vocal in support of asylum-seeking Roma. On February 2, Muller spoke to The Slovak Spectator to respond to recent Roma-related law proposals grabbing headlines in Slovakia.The Slovak Spectator (TSS): Rastislav Šepták, a deputy for the Slovak National Party (SNS), recently proposed that all asylum-seeking Roma have their passports revoked for five years. Róbert Fico, founder of the Smer party, suggested taking away the social benefits of asylum-seeking Roma. How do you respond to these proposals?

Slovak likely first pick in NHL draft

He was the leading scorer for Slovakia at the 2000 World Junior Championships, including a 2 goal performance against the Czech Republic on December 26. He has been called a "game-breaker with terrific offensive tools" by international hockey scouting agencies. He scored 20 points in 33 games for Trenčín of the Slovak Extraliga at the age of 17. And in June, he is expected by many hockey experts to be the first player taken in the 2000 National Hockey League amateur draft.Marián Gáborik is not a typical teenager. Two weeks shy of his 18th birthday, he is a star for Dukla Trenčín after having scored 16 points in the team's first 19 games. He has a potent offensive game that has NHL teams drooling, and has won the respect of NHL scouts and players alike.

Bidders still drawn to delayed ST sale

The sale of a 51% stake in the state-run telecom monopoly Slovenské Telekomunikácie (ST) remains blocked by a protracted legal battle between ST and Austrian CDI Radio. But although the conflict threatens to further delay the date on which ST will finally be sold, investment professionals remain calm, and say the Slovak government is doing a good job of shepherding the process along.Stanislav Vanek, the director of the Telecom Ministry's Regulatory Section, explained that the legal dispute had its roots in an agreement signed 10 years ago by CDI with the state-run Slovak Radio channel. The deal gave CDI the right to broadcast via frequencies covering all of western Slovakia, but was later disallowed by ST because "the conditions were not consistent with legislation of the Slovak broadcasting act."

The Presidency

In order to be considered for EU membership, one of the most important criteria Slovakia had to fulfil was the election of a president. The country had been without a president since March 1998 when Michal Kováč's term ended and then-Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar assumed most presidential powers.After parliament proved unable to agree on a new presidential candidate, the Dzurinda government passed two laws in January and March 1999 paving the way for direct elections.