Snina stopped the fascists

The eastern-Slovak town of Snina on August 14 published its decision banning the extreme-right ĽSNS MP Milan Mazurek from organising a public meeting on Friday, August 17, arguing that this meeting would be directed against the local community.

Mazurek said he wanted to point to the increased crime rate among excluded communities, the Pravda daily quoted him.

Reasons against the gathering

Snina reacted within three days after the request was filed, and banned the meeting as it considers it to be risky and at odds with some facts. The municipal authorities banned the gathering, using – among other things – last year’s motion filed by General Prosecutor Jaromír Čižnár as an argument, who evaluated the ĽSNS as an extremist party with fascist tendencies and requested that it be abolished. They also disproved the very reasons for the meeting to take place.

Mazurek's personality is also one of the reasons for not allowing the meeting.

Snina authorities question the very goal of the meeting: “The town has no knowledge of increased criminality being recorded in our town and in the Snina District,” it wrote.

... and reactions

“Hats off,” was the reaction of the Government Proxy for Roma communities, Ábel Ravasz, as cited by Pravda. “Kotleba (Marian Kotleba is the chairman of ĽSNS, an MP, and former governor of Banská Bystrica Region) have never really aimed at solving the problem,” he also noted. “Snina's self-administration has disclosed this and carried out the due measures. We express high respect for this responsible step."

On the other hand, the Denník N daily wrote that Snina Mayor Štefan Milovčík (independent) has taken up arguments not stemming from the law. He found that the meeting would be targeting the local Roma community, and thus he decided to ban it.

Meanwhile, ĽSNS members pretend that they do not know about the ban, and ignore it.

The reason for the meeting is a recent case in which Snina Roma women beat a young woman whose dog bit a Roma teenager. It started when a group of teenagers provoked the girl’s dog, which was on a leash.

The report from JOJ TV, broadcast one week ago, evoked – despite being unbiased and well-balanced – strong emotions and received a million views on Facebook. These spread despite the fact, stressed by Denník N, that also the young woman attacked was of Roma origin. ĽSNS decided to use the anti-Roma sentiments sparked by it, and to organise the meeting, the daily summed up.

UPDATE: Police charged three women, two from Humenné and one from Snina, with misdemeanours of disorderly conduct: They allegedly attacked a woman from Snina, aged 23, on August 7, in the park on Palárikova Street.

“The women are relatives of the boy who was bitten by a dog owned by her the day before, Prešov Regional Police Presidium spokesman Daniel Džobanik told the TASR newswire. He added the three women hit the young Snina woman in the face, pulled her by her hair, and when she fell, kicked her and repeatedly beat her with their fists.

The woman suffered injuries that have required up to six days of sick leave and have caused limitations in normal life. The three women are prosecuted outside of custody, Džobanik added.