Government Office Criticizes Fico's Inclusion in 'Press Freedom Predators' List
Bratislava, 31 October (TASR) - The Government Office on Friday strongly rejected the 'pseudo-ranking' of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which included Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) among the so-called 'press freedom predators', Government Office's press and information department told TASR on Friday, adding that this ranking ignores facts and protects the perpetrators of aggression.
"Such an assessment is all the more absurd given that the same organisation has long been silent on attacks by state officials on free media in 2020-2023 and didn't respond to specific cases of intimidation or discrediting of journalists with a different opinion," said the Government Office.
According to the office, instead of impartially monitoring media freedom, RSF created a pseudo-ranking list, which "placed them among those who turn from guardians of democracy to political activists". The Government Office claims that RSF also overlooked the media's responsibility for spreading hatred and fomenting an atmosphere of social aggression that has led to physical attacks on politicians.
Throughout his political career, Fico has always defended freedom of the press and speech, notes the office. He has never initiated or supported legislative steps aimed at restricting the work of journalists, but on the contrary, he has consistently called for media accountability and supported pluralism of opinion, including the existence of alternative media, which are a natural part of democratic debate.
"It is paradoxical that the very media that today put themselves in the position of victims have long been creating tendentious narratives against the premier and his government," the government office said in a statement, noting that this media campaign resulted in an assassination attempt on the prime minister, with "cynical reactions and bets on whether he would survive the attack - including from some people working in the mainstream media" at a time when his life was under threat.
According to his office, Fico has been the target of indiscriminate media attacks during his political career, which do not correspond to reality but reflect the political preferences of their authors. "That's why we consider such rankings to be tendentious, biased and manipulating the image of Slovakia," stated the press and information department.
RSF publishes an annual 'Press Freedom Predators' list, which it says highlights those who ruthlessly suppress press freedom. It divides the 'predators' into five categories: political, security, economic, legal and social. The Slovak premier has been placed in the last category. RSF said that Fico doesn't like investigations into corruption and abuse of power by politicians, and has publicly referred to journalists in various expressive terms on several occasions.
"His verbal attacks prompted threats against journalists and even led to the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak in 2018," Reporters Without Borders wrote in the assessment.
