The gathering in Košice (source: Judita Čermáková)
People in several cities in Slovakia and abroad met on June 6 to pay tribute to Henry Acorda, a 36-year-old Filipino expat living and working in Bratislava who succumbed to the injuries inflicted by Slovak citizen Juraj Hossu, who resides in the UK, on May 26.
The organisers of the gatherings also called for proper investigation of the case.
People were lighting candles
About 100 people came to Banská Bystrica to attend the gathering organised by the Not in Our City platform. They held a one-minute silence and lit candles to commemorate Acorda’s courage.
“Henry became a victim of human brutality, but also the atmosphere in our country,” said Martina Strmeňová of Not in Our City, as quoted by the TASR newswire. “It’s inevitable for people to bravely stand up for humanity and tolerance.”
In her opinion, his courage should mobilise everybody to fight evil. She highlighted the courage of Acorda who paid for it with his own life.
“There is no place for violence and extremism in democracy,” Strmeňová said, as quoted by TASR. “It is our task to show that we won’t tolerate evil and violence.”
Košice held a similarly big gathering, organised by the local cultural and community centre Klub. The participants paid tribute to Acorda with one minute of silence and lit candles.
Activist Peter Neuwirth then spoke to the crowd, claiming that young people in Košice are also inclined to extremism, as reported by the Korzár daily.
The planned gathering in Bratislava had to be cancelled due to heavy rain. The organisers first moved the event to June 11, starting at 18:00, but later changed the date to June 8 starting at 18:00.
Meeting with interior minister
Earlier on June 6, Interior Minister Denisa Saková (Smer) met with Acorda’s family, expressing her sympathy to them.
She also offered them help with transporting his body back to their homeland by using the Interior Ministry’s plane and processing the necessary agenda and documents. The family has accepted the offer.
“The date of departure hasn’t been set yet as it depends on completing all the necessary formalities,” reads the Interior Ministry’s press release.
