DEPUTY Prime Minister for Human Rights and National Minorities Rudolf Chmel stated that in the case of Hedviga Malinová the right to a just process has been breached by politicians’ premature intervention in the investigation, and thus her human dignity had been harmed.
“The fact that we let her be literally tortured for over four years is a big exclamation mark particularly visible on Human Rights Day, and therefore I’d like to apologise to Hedviga Malinová-Žáková for these grave injuries,” Chmel wrote in a statement issued on the occasion of Human Rights Day on December 10.
Malinová was accused by ministers of the previous government of lying about an alleged attack in Nitra in 2006, in which she says she was assaulted apparently because her assailants heard her speaking in Hungarian. She remains accused of lying to police, but is yet to face trial.
In his statement Chmel highlighted the fact that there are still many stereotypes and prejudices working in the country in the relations between the majority and minorities, particularly the Hungarian and Roma minorities.
