Police President Tibor Gašpar (source: SME)
Police Corps President Tibor Gašpar has refused the proposals of secondary school students and the organisers of the anti-corruption march in Bratislava in mid-April, Karolína Farská and Dávid Straka, concerning their planned meeting on corruption.
The students responded by open letter to his offer to meet at the Police Corps Presidium last week. They proposed a public meeting at the Grammar School of Juraj Hronec in Bratislava that would be attended by the media and hosted by Lukáš Fila of the Denník N daily.
“The change of the meeting point means for me the loss of authenticity and the loss of the opportunity to talk also with other police officers, not just me,” Gašpar said, as quoted by the Sme daily.
He also opposed the role of Fila, saying that he would not maintain impartiality in the discussion.
Gašpar, however, repeated his offer to meet with the students to discuss different ways that the police fight corruption, Sme wrote.
The students explained in their letter that they want to meet at the Bratislava school to make public the discussion's concerns and content. When proposing Fila as the host, they offered to work together to find another reporter if their choice did not suit Gašpar, Sme reported.
Farská and Straka have planned another anti-corruption march to be held in Bratislava and Košice on June 5 and Prešov on June 12. There will also be a June 5 protest in Prague.
