Slovak Post Refuses to Distribute KALIspecial in Either Form
Bratislava, September 2 (TASR) – Slovak Post refuses to distribute the KALIspecial magazine on the Kalinak-Basternak case to Slovak households as a periodical or as a leaflet, Slovak Post spokesperson Iveta Dorcakova told TASR on Friday.
Opposition parties OLaNO-NOVA and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) wanted to distribute the magazine to Slovak households via Slovak Post.
Slovak Post is referring to the position of the Culture Ministry indicating that KALIspecial does not meet the requirements for periodicals stipulated by the law. “In a given case we consider it to be a leaflet. In the opinion of our lawyers, the content of the leaflet might interfere with the laws concerning the right to protect personal information. If it is later proven that the content of the leaflet actually did interfere with this right, this could make Slovak Post co-liable as the leaflet’s distributor,” said Dorcakova. Therefore, the institution does not want to enter the risk of potential litigation.
A written notice from an exclusive holder of the copyright to the photo of Robert Kalinak’s face used in KALIspecial was delivered to Slovak Post on Wednesday (August 31). “The copyright holder reminded us of the fact that he is an exclusive holder of the right to use the photography and that he has not given it for its use in KALIspecial,” said Dorcakova. If Slovak Post distributed it, it would break the Copyright Act, as well as the Penal Code, added Dorcakova.
Opposition parties OLaNO-NOVA and SaS have already announced that if Slovak Post refuses to distribute KALIspecial, they will do so themselves. According to Jozef Rajtar (SaS), Slovak Post and the Culture Ministry seem to have made a pact against the Opposition.
The Culture Ministry earlier on Wednesday delivered a statement to Slovak Post claiming that KALIspecial doesn’t feature some required data, including the name of the publisher, date and year of issue and the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN).
According to Viskupic, Slovak Post can refuse to distribute a periodical only for specific reasons stated in the relevant laws. This doesn’t include insufficient registration of a periodical, stated Viskupic, describing Slovak Post’s and the Culture Ministry’s moves as ‘censorship’.
