(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
Good evening. The Tuesday, April 5 edition of Today in Slovakia is ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Kotleba receives suspended six-month sentence
Marian Kotleba (source: SITA/AP)
The Supreme Court overturned the original verdict of the Specialized Criminal
Court that sent the chairman of the party People's Party Our Slovakia (ĽSNS), Marian Kotleba, to prison for four years and four months back in 2020.
The Supreme Court found him guilty of expressing sympathy for a movement suppressing the basic rights and freedoms, but handed down a suspended sentence of six months with an 18-month probation.
The decision of the Supreme Court is final and cannot be appealed.
Senate President Pavel Farkaš says that Kotleba must have been aware that the numerical symbolism on the cheques was associated with Nazism and neo-Nazism.
He also stressed that the defendant handed over cheques worth €1,488 on March 14, a day marking the founding of the wartime Slovak state. His expression of sympathies for ideologies aimed at suppressing basic rights and freedoms was thus reliably proven.
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Refugees from Ukraine
305,421 refugees have crossed the Slovak-Ukrainian border since the war in Ukraine started. 61,692 people have requested temporary protection in Slovakia and another 167 requested asylum.
More than 1,200 CVs from people with knowledge of Ukrainian were posted on the Profesia.sk job portal. Compared to February, their number increased four times and 73 percent of the CVs were added by women in March.
People who would like to gain a benefit from the state for accommodating Ukrainian refugees have to submit the first documents until Thursday, April 7. This date applies to people who are not entrepreneurs and who accommodated people with temporary protection in February and March.
The National Criminal Agency is investigating a businessman prohibiting Ukrainian refugees from entering his shop. An announcement, written in Ukrainian, was displayed on the shop’s front door.
Photo of the day
(source: Twitter of Zuzana Čaputová)
Feature story for today
Covid-19 has significantly hit the Slovak economy, but not all economic sectors have suffered decline. While lockdown halted production lines at four carmakers for weeks during 2020, other sectors thrived, like retail chains or logistics companies.
In other news
5,144 people were newly diagnosed as Covid positive out of 13,572 PCR tests performed on Monday. The number of people in hospitals is 2,021 people. 22 more deaths were reported on Monday. The vaccination rate is at 51.28 percent, 2,820,300 people have received the first vaccine dose. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here.
Slovak company GA Drilling gained 8-million investments from the US company Nabors, which owns the most oil platforms in the world. They want to continue in the development of a deep well and build a geothermal power plant.
The Medical Trade Unions Association (LOZ) declared a strike alert on Tuesday. At a press conference LOZ Chairman Peter Visolajský announced the move intended to pressure the government to keep its promises. At the same time, they are seeking support from the public, as according to them, the Slovak healthcare system is falling apart in terms of staff, while doctors and nurses are quitting abroad.
People who request asylum will have access to the labour market six months from starting asylum proceedings. Currently, a nine-month period applies. They will also be entitled to social and psychological consultations and a cultural orientation course. The amendment was signed by the president.
Bratislava will have a regular flight connection with Dubai twice a week from mid-April. There will be flights on Wednesdays and Sundays operated by Smartwings. The increased frequency is planned for the period between April 13 and June 1.
. This is mostly in the case of young people, aged 18 to 35 years, who feel threatened by hatred and hate speech.
Do not miss on Spectator.sk today
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