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Publishers of Newspapers Call Fico a Liar in an Open Declaration
Saturday 12 December 2009 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, December 12 (TASR) - Board members of the Association of the Slovak Periodicals' Editors (ZVPTS), publishers and editors-in-chief of the most popular Slovak dailies on Saturday issued and open declaration, in which they protest against statements made by Prime Minister Robert Fico concerning the Slovak media a few days ago.
According to Fico, representatives of the Slovak press met last week and discussed their joint activities aimed against Fico's Smer-SD party. Fico compared the alleged meeting to a Mafia session.
'Premier Fico is lying' reads the title of a column published on the front page in dailies Plus Jeden Den, SME, Pravda, Novy Cas, Hospodarske Noviny and Korzar. "No such meeting took place and we consider comparisons to Mafia as an insult. Continual and escalating (Fico's) attacks against journalists are likewise improper and insulting," reads the statement.
Publishers and editors-in-chief point out that the Slovak media behave in a way that is normal in a democratic country. Fico has all legal means available, if he thinks that the media are crossing the borders of law. Fico shouldn't create an aggressive atmosphere against the media and journalists, they claim.
"ZVPTS representatives are ready to meet the prime minister any time and matter-of-factly discuss the particular relations between the media and political power," they declare, adding that they will always defend the rights of journalists to inform freely about activities of politicians, as they act as watchdogs in the society.
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