Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has won another court case against Plus Jeden Deň, a tabloid daily published by the 7 Plus company. The newspaper will have to pay the prime minister €33,140 following the ruling by the Bratislava Regional Court on Tuesday, November 24.
The court confirmed a ruling handed down by Bratislava District Court in January 2007, the TASR newswire wrote. Apart from the monetary damages, the daily will also have to pay Fico’s legal costs and issue an apology. The publisher cannot appeal against the ruling.
The dispute concerned an article published in the newspaper in May 2005 under the headline: ‘Who Stole from Mrs. Fico?’ The daily stated that the car of Fico’s wife Svetlana had been stolen and that the case was dealt with “very quickly” by police despite the fact that only 5 percent of similar cases are solved. According to the article, the police proceeded “…in a non-standard manner, even with cronyism…”. According to the court, the article interfered unjustifiably in Fico’s privacy, and stated false and misleading information. Fico is currently suing the 7 Plus company in around ten cases that concern the protection of personal rights.
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
