Criminal report filed against Slovak Culture Minister Šimkovičová accusing her of inciting hatred
News server tvnoviny.sk reports that The Human Rights Institute (Inštitút ľudských práv) in Slovakia has filed a criminal report with the Prosecutor-General of the Slovak Republic against Slovak Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová. The Institute says her recent remarks have been antisemitic and racist.
The minister gave an interview to news portal Topky.sk in which she said: “Europe is dying out. Children are not being born because of the excessive pressure of LGBTI. What’s curious is that this is happening among the white race.”
The director of the Institute, Peter Weisenbacher, said her words were shocking. “It is shocking that not even two years have passed since the terrorist attack on Zámocká Street in which two people died, and a member of the Government is speaking like this. Public officials’ remarks also incite homophobia, racism and antisemitism and cannot be called anything but the dissemination of hatred,” tvnoviny.sk quoted him as saying.
The Institute has called for Minister Šimkovičová to immediately resign. The organization reminded the public that the Culture Minister is known for her work with the purveyors of disinformation online and that during her tenure in office she has repeatedly come into conflict with artists, non-profit organizations and human rights activists.
“Support for racism and antisemitism has no place in Europe in 2024. We know where such tendencies have taken us in the past. We call on Minister Šimkovičová to immediately resign,” said Weisenbacher.
According to the Human Rights Institute, Minister Šimkovičová broke the law by defaming people on the basis of race and by inciting ethnic, national or racial hatred. “Because she committed these crimes as a public official, she could be imprisoned for anywhere between two and five years,” explained Daniel Grejták, a lawyer with the Institute.
Šimkovičová also attacked the LGBTI community in an interview for the online television channel TASR, in which she claimed the community does not allow any differences of opinion. “They’re still defending their group. They still continue to advocate for themselves everywhere,” the Culture Minister said, alleging that LGBTI persons are engaged in an ideological agenda.
