On Tuesday, the Supreme Court delivered a verdict of guilty in the case regarding People's Party Our Slovakia MP Milan Mazurek. It had launched proceedings over the question of the MP's extremism-related statements that were broadcast by the commercial station Radio Frontinus in October 2016. The Specialised Criminal Court originally found Milan Mazurek guilty of disparaging remarks against the Roma. The Supreme Court has now found him guilty of defaming a nation, race and belief.
As the offence was found to be intentional, the final sentencing means the loss of his seat as MP. Mazurek will be replaced in Parliament by Milan Špánik, who also represents the extremist right wing party.
The Specialised Criminal Court had found the extremist MP guilty back in April 2018. Both Mazurek and the prosecutor appealed against the decision, with the prosecutor objecting to the €5,000 fine, which he said was too low considering the MP's income. The fine has now been Mazurek raised to €10,000. According to the former MP, his real punishment is the loss of his mandate. If he does not pay the sum, Mazurek will not be able to run for MP in the 2020 election. After the sentence was issued, the extremist party representative said he would not be threatened and would continue in his political activities.
In the radio debate that was originally broadcast, Mazurek spoke about the "whole community of Gypsy antisocial elements". He described his experiences from primary school, saying that when the door of the special school located right opposite to their building was opened, "it was like being in the ZOO." The host of the show did not react either when Mazurek claimed the state should intervene and that Gypsies should not make a business out of producing children. "We have to stop this," Mazurek underlined and went on saying that we invest European money into people who "have never done anything for this nation and will not bring any contribution in the future." Frontinus Radio was fined €15,000 by the Council for Broadcasting and Retransmission.
