Beata Balogová is Editor of the Sme daily. (source: SME - Jozef Jakubčo)
It was not just angry people, but a desire to change the country, that took over SNP Square in Bratislava five years ago. Journalists stood on stage and talked about how the then prime minister Robert Fico had been attacking the media for years, how he had created an environment in which someone could think that they could get away with the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kušnírová.
The crowd answered them: Away with Fico, we stand with you.
That was in 2018. Fico has not stopped attacking journalists since, and is now planning a return to power. He relies on the fact that many have forgotten the architect of the mafia state, the official with ties to the Italian mafia, corrupt police officers, and oligarchs with an entry card to the centres of power.
