Because of the much-publicised case of several Slovak judges and a senior prosecutor who held a party in the Bonanno bar, Rajecké Teplice in 2010, and who are now suing the newspaper – the Nový Čas daily – that reported on the party, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has taken an interest in the case.
Through its representative on freedom of the media, Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE has addressed Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák, reminding him that public officials have to bear a higher level of criticism. The Sme daily wrote on May 3 that the cases specifically named by the OSCE include the case in which a group of judges who attended a party in 2010 which was subsequently reported by the Nový Čas daily have filed a lawsuit against the newspaper, claiming compensation of €940,000. The daily published a series of stories about the event, at which the men were welcomed by retired lawyer Tibor Péchy bearing a replica machine gun and a pair of blue ear defenders in a style which reportedly resembled the appearance of mass-murderer Ľubomír Harman. Sme wrote that the lawyers sued the paper in February 2013.
Another case involved the Sme daily itself, which was successfully sued by Judge Michal Truban of the Specialised Criminal Court (at the time named the Special Court) over a story about a hunting trip which Sme said he had participated in for free. The judge asserted that it was a case of reciprocity, and that the report had harmed his 'human dignity'. The courts ordered Sme to publish an apology, drafted by Truban, on its front page for three days running.
Source: Sme
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
