A PROTEST march in Bratislava on November 10, one of a series organised by activists Oskar Dobrovodský and Marián Mišún under the slogan ‘Together for a Decent and Safe Life in Slovakia’, ended in front of the gates of Bratislava Castle with one protester burning the EU flag, the TASR newswire reported.
Mišún, a municipal police officer in Trnava, declared the action to be a ‘mass city walk’, rather than a protest, which enabled the crowd to get as far as the Svätopluk statue in front of Bratislava Castle. The organisers then delivered speeches. The largely peaceful protest began outside the Main Railway Station in Bratislava at 15:30 and attracted approximately 100 participants, according to TASR. An earlier protest took place on October 13, with a number of supporters of the radical nationalist organisation Slovenská Pospolitosť also joining. The organisers were at pains to distance themselves from extremist groups.
The protester who burned the EU flag and Mišún, as the event organiser, were detained by police and accused of rioting. Mišún was later found guilty by the Bratislava I District Court and fined €300. He could face three months in prison if he refuses to pay the fine, TASR wrote.
On November 14 Trnava municipal police chief Igor Keleši said that Mišún would be dismissed from his police job, TASR reported.
Another in the series of protests is planned for November 17 in Malacky, where Dobrovodský has been engaged in a long-running and widely publicised dispute with local Roma.
