The temporary ban on publication of the book by journalist Tom Nicholson on political corruption in Slovakia is not censorship, according to the Bratislava I District Court, which stated on February 6 that an individual’s right to personal protection prevails over publication of the book, the SITA newswire reported.
The Bratislava district court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting publication of Nicholson's book on January 3 and the spokesman for the Regional Court in Bratislava, Pavol Adamčiak, told SITA that the district court's ruling can be appealed within the defined deadline. SITA wrote that the preliminary injunction is valid until the courts make a final decision on the lawsuit filed by Penta co-owner Jaroslav Haščák. The court issued the injunction even though the book is not finished, SITA wrote.
Judge Branislav Král, who issued the ruling, found that his car had been damaged over the weekend, according to a report on the cas.sk website on February 6. The incident reportedly took place in front of Král's house in a village close to Bratislava, the TASR newswire wrote.
"A police patrol was dispatched to the scene and it ascertained that an unknown perpetrator caused damage to the vehicle by smashing a window of the front door," said František Peczár, the Bratislava regional police spokesman, to the čas.sk website. He added that the damage, about €200, was caused between February 3 and 4.
Source: SITA, TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
