Show Journalist Faces Criminal Charges Due To Handshake J iI 1 WASHINGTON US U.S. United States State Helsinki Commission CoChairman CoChairman CoChairman Co- Co Chairman Rep Christopher H. H Smith R-NJ R voiced alarm recently over the criminal charges brought this week against Slovak journalist Denisa She is reportedly being charged d under article of the Slovak penal code and faces up to one year in prison for insulting insulting insulting insult ing a public official In February was visiting a village in eastern Slovakia Upon meeting meeting meeting meet meet- ing a police officer she offered her hand He refused to shake her hand and instead demanded a certificate of hygiene She Sli then asked if he e had refused to shake her hand be because ause she is Romani subsequently filed a complaint with the Ministry ry of Interior regarding i J the the police officers behavior t Although the complaint w was dismissed dismissed dismissed dis dis- dis- dis missed the Minister of Interior described the investigation as a whitewash and apologized to This week charges were brought against va on the theory she questioned whether the police officers officer's refusal to shake her hand was racially motivated she insulted a public servant It is always disturbing when a journalist faces criminal charges for his or her speech Co Chairman Smith said It is even worse when the speech in question is the alleged insult of ofa a public official The particular circum circum- stances of this case illustrate why the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the the Media joined by his UN and OAS counterparts have so clear clearly y condemned insult laws as contrary contrary contrary con con- to international free speech norms Smith has repeatedly raised concerns regarding the criminal defamation and insult laws which remain in Slovakia's penal code In November 2001 I the Slovak Parliament failed by one vote to repeal two of the articles in the Slovak penal code which allow criminal charges to be brought against individuals exercising their right of free See JOURNALIST Page 2 Journalist Faces f. f rl Charges speech If merely asking whether a government officials official's action was tainted by racism can result in criminal charges Smith observed the Slovak Governments Government's generally laudable laudable laudable laud laud- able efforts to improve respect t will willbe human rights Jr for Romani y be severely undermined J. J r y One of the ironies of this case is that Slovakia's record in the area of free speech is overall excellent Smith concluded But as long as these archaic criminal defamation and nd insult laws remain on the books its it's only a matter atter of time I before someone finds a way to rl use them Its a pity that onery one official is thin-skinned thin public ry i using his taxpayers' taxpayers money toI to i C I i pursue his personal grudge I hope this case will spur Slovak legislators to repeal those archaic archa archa- ic laws before they wind up costing Slovakia even more money working Hard-working Slovak citizens deserve better Last year Slovakia lost losta a free speech case before the European Court of Human Rights stemming from a 1992 incident and was ordered to pay Slovak crowns approximately approximately approximately S to the plaintiff The Commission published published published pub pub- in December 2001 I a report on free speech issues in Slovakia The Digest article article article arti arti- cle is available on the Commissions Commission's web site at http and is titled Criminal Defamation and Insult Laws A Summary of Free Speech Developments in A D Slovakia h en S i I y 1 |