Writer Michal Hvorecký (l) and commentator and journalist Peter Bárdy. (source: SME - Marko Erd/Jozef Jakubčo)
Prime Minister and Smer leader Robert Fico has filed a lawsuit against Peter Bárdy, editor-in-chief of the news website Aktuality.sk, over a book titled “Fico - Obsessed with Power.”
Fico does not dispute the contents of Bárdy’s 300-page book but objects to the photograph of himself on the cover. According to Bárdy, Fico insists that it is his right to decide how such an image is used, even though the photo, taken from the Slovak news agency (TASR)’s database, does not belong to him. Fico is demanding €100,000 in damages and an apology from Bárdy and the book’s publisher, Ringier Slovakia Media.
“This is the largest lawsuit against a journalist in Slovak history,” Bárdy wrote in a commentary, asserting that he had not violated any laws. “If the aim was to intimidate me or trigger self-censorship, it didn’t work.”
