President Caputova Sues Fico for Slander

Bratislava, September 13 (TASR) - President Zuzana Caputova filed a lawsuit against Smer-SD chair Robert Fico over gross lies and fabricated allegations that Fico has been consistently spreading about her, TASR learnt from President's spokesperson Martin Strizinec on Wednesday. Fico responded by claiming that, with her lawsuit, the President is interfering with the election campaign. "The President is aware that as a public official she is obligated to tolerate a higher level of criticism. What she is not obligated to tolerate, however, is the growing public bullying, and unjustified accusations of her having violated the Constitution and the law. She perceives such rhetoric, not anchored in any factual foundation, as a voluntary misuse of the freedom of speech for stirring up hatred against her," explained the spokesperson. The head of state is convinced that by repeated dissemination of such gross lies, Robert Fico has trampled her personal rights in such a fashion and to such extent that the only effective tool left to her to protect herself is by seeking legal redress in the courts. If society continues to tolerate such hateful speech and fabricated allegations, there is a concern that some individuals among sympathisers of Fico and the politicians of his kind might escalate verbal attacks into acts of physical violence. "Repeated threats addressed directly to the President and her family serve as evidence that this is not only an hypothesis but a real danger," added Strizinec. In his response, Fico claimed that the head of state is filing a civil lawsuit against the most popular opposition politician in Slovakia two weeks ahead of the parliamentary election. "Let the President sue in the civil law court. With this, she's once again interfering with the election campaign quite clearly, making it obvious that she's supporting Progressive Slovakia," said Fico. He added that it was President Caputova who decorated fascists, signed the disadvantageous Defence Cooperation Agreement with the United States and thwarted the referendum on an early election. mf/mcs