Gasparovic signs press law
Otto Mann
15:50 - 25.04.2008
Bratislava- Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic today signed the press
law, that according to its critics may jeopardise the freedom of
press, the Presidential Office told CTK.
The legislation takes effect from June. Representatives of the
publishers and journalists said earlier they would challenge the
legislation at the Constitutional Court.
Under the law, Slovak media will be obliged to publish reactions even
to truthful information, and so it may happen they will not have space
to publish any other material.
The law has also been criticised by the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). It said it may threaten freedom of
expression.
Gasparovic has "decided to sign the law as he did not find anything in
it that would be inconsistent with the constitution and democratic
principles," Gasparovic's spokesman Marek Trubac said.
Gasparovic has signed the law despite the appeals by the Association
of Publishers of Periodical Press in Slovakia, the Slovak Syndicate of
Journalists and some Czech dailies that he should return it for
reappraisal to the parliament.
Observers say Gasparovic's attitude is not surprising. He has
repeatedly criticised journalists and earlier this year he said some
government-controlled media should be established.
The Slovak papers are at loggerheads with Prime Minister Robert Fico,
whose Smer-SD nominated Gasparovic for the presidential post.
Fico, who has repeatedly complained about biased writing by the
papers, is the initiator of the controversial law.