The Supreme Court on Wednesday, February 27, confirmed a €50,000 fine against public broadcaster Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) for an instalment of its discussion programme 'Večer pod Lampou' from June 2011 which was dedicated to the Ľudmila Cervanová case, the TASR newswire reported.
The fine was imposed by the Broadcasting and Retransmission Council in December 2011 for the programme. It featured interviews with four men who were convicted of murdering Cervanová but did not offer any opposing points of view. RTVS said it did invite others to have their say in the four-hour programme, but all of them turned down its offer, most claiming that they were sworn to secrecy in the case.
"I welcome the ruling of the Supreme Court as a step that confirms the attempts of the council to prevent the emergence of manipulative programmes affecting human dignity and the right to justice," said council member Miloš Mistrík. Cervanová, a medical student, was murdered in 1976. Seven men from Nitra were convicted of the crime but later claimed that the case against them had been fabricated by the communist secret police, the ŠtB.
Štefan Hrib, the TV show's host, who is also editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine Týždeň, has long campaigned for the men to be cleared of responsibility for the crime, despite their convictions having been confirmed by Slovak courts since the fall of the communist regime.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
