TE Rostas knows his sentence: He will not pay the fine, he would rather go to prison, says his lawyer – TVNOVINY.sk

The Senate of the Supreme Court (NS) of the Slovak Republic sentenced the chief editor of the magazine Zem a Vek Tibor Eliot Rostas to a fine of 4000 euros. The verdict is valid.

NS SR considers the initial judgment of the Specialized Criminal Court to be correct. If Rostas did not pay the fine, he would go to prison for three months. The defendant did not hear the verdict, as he was not allowed into the courtroom for refusing to have a veil.

Zem and Vek magazine editor-in-chief Tibor Eliot Rostas and former judge Štefan Harabin. Photo: TASR / Martin Baumann

His lawyer, Ľubomír Hlbočan, stated after leaving the courtroom that they would appeal against the verdict. His client will not pay the fine and will rather go to prison. He does not consider his actions criminal, and according to Hlbočan, Rostas is a political prisoner.

Former Judge Štefan Harabin also came to the hearing with Tibor Rostas again. They both refused to have a veil. Harabin came into conflict with the Prison and Judicial Guard Corps. He shouted that they were committing a crime and that he had no legal obligation to wear a veil, he informs Denník N.

Both men refused to be allowed into the courtroom because they still refused to wear the veil.

At the last hearing, Štefan Harabin, who even then came to support Rostas, had to dismissed from the courtroom due to the disruption of the hearing.

Zem and Vek magazine editor-in-chief Tibor Eliot Rostas and former judge Štefan Harabin. Photo: TASR / Martin Baumann

ŠTS in Pezinok sentenced Rostas on 16 December 2019. He received a fine of 4,000 euros, or a substitute sentence of three months’ imprisonment.

Prosecutor Tomáš Honz proposed a condition to the defendant, stating that he did not request a financial fine. He sees the crime of spreading extremist materials as the greatest danger in violating public order and disrupting the nation, or minorities and other communities in Slovakia.

According to the indictment in May 2017, Rostas published an article in the magazine entitled Wedge of Jews among Slavs, in which he quoted alleged thoughts of various personalities in Slovak history, in which they expressed negative attitudes towards the Jewish community.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the team put into circulation and disseminated extremist materials and committed such an act in public. He further publicly defamed a group of people for their true or perceived affiliation with a race, nation, or religion. At the same time, according to the prosecutor’s office, he publicly incited hatred against a group of people for their real or alleged affiliation with a race, nation and religion.