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Hundreds Gather in Bratislava to Protest Against Patriot Act
Wednesday 10 March 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, March 10 (TASR) - Approximately 1,000 people, most of them students, gathered outside the Presidential Palace on Wednesday to protest against the newly-approved Patriot Act, TASR learnt on the same day.
"On behalf of all students, I want to call on President Ivan Gasparovic not to sign the act ... We disagree that a democratic state should force an emotion that ought to be candid and free," said Robert Mihaly of "The Initiative for Transparent Democracy".
Should Gasparovic sign the bill, protest rallies will be held in various towns as of April, said Mihaly. He added that petitions aimed at collecting enough signatures to have a referendum on the legislation will be launched.
The president's spokesman Marek Trubac said that Gasparovic views the event as a natural display of democracy. "The president takes note of these stances, but this doesn't change anything about the fact that his decision will be autonomous, in line with the Constitution, laws and with how the act itself is conceived," said the spokesman. Gasparovic is set to decide on the thorny act by March 20.
Education Minister Jan Mikolaj of the Slovak National Party (SNS), which drafted the bill, said that he senses some kind of politicking and manipulation behind the activities of the Initiative.
Mihaly said that the event is purely apolitical. Even though some political parties have approached the organisers of the rally, "we said no to them" as "we don't want anybody to score political points from this."
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