BRATISLAVA, March 12, (WEBNOVINY) — Some two hundred supporters of the war-time Slovak state gathered on the Hodzovo Namestie square in Bratislava on Saturday to mark the upcoming 72nd anniversary of the inception of the fascist republic. Leader of the People’s party Our Slovakia and former head of the right wing extremist Slovenska Pospolitost Marian Kotleba pointed out in his speech that he was unable to express his opinion completely openly because the state interferes with the freedom of speech. “The time and the era will come when there will be so many of us on the square that we will not have to make such concessions toward the state power,” he portended.
Kotleba reminded Interior Minister Daniel Lipsic of his statement that there cannot be only one official truth and that also controversial opinions must be protected under the freedom of speech. He called upon the minister to submit a Penal Code revision to the Slovak Parliament that will abandon the section 424a, which sets penalties for triggering, defamation and intimidating individuals due to their affiliation to a certain race, nation or ethnic group, color of skin or origin of descent.
Following the speech delivery, the mob left for the Martinsky Cintorin cemetery, where the grave of Slovak State President Jozef Tiso was reportedly located until recently.
The war-time fascist republic was established on March 14, 1939, as the first independent Slovak state. However, its sovereignty was rather formal, as it was de-facto controlled by Nazi Germany through a treaty on protecting Slovakia. During WW2, the Slovak State transported thousands of its citizens to concentration camps where most of them died.
SITA