The Gorilla file, which describes alleged corrupt practices in Slovak business and politics, will not be removed from Slovak-hosted websites, the Hospodárske Noviny daily wrote on May 23. The Regional Court in Bratislava refused a request for an interim ruling which a co-owner of the Penta financial group, Jaroslav Haščák, had sought in order to force the providers of 13 Slovak websites to take down the document, which is allegedly the product of a secret investigation by the Slovak Information Service (SIS) spy agency. Haščák features prominently in the file.
The court case mainly concerned the webhosting company Websupport, Hospodárske Noviny reported. According to the newspaper, the court rejected the motion by arguing that although the truthfulness of the claims in the Gorilla file have not been confirmed, the public cannot be prevented from discussing them. In a democratic society, the file could be the subject of public debate, the court opined. The regional court’s spokesman, Pavol Adamčiak, confirmed that the judge had decided on the matter, but refused to give more details. Penta spokesman Martin Danko told Hospodárske Noviny that the motion was refused, but did not want to comment further. Penta had earlier asked the webhosting company to remove the file, but without success.
Source: Hospodárske Noviny
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
