Fico on Criminal Proceedings against Blaha: It's Not Normal We Deny History

Fico on Criminal Proceedings against Blaha: It's Not Normal We Deny History

Bratislava, January 31 (TASR) – Head of Smer-SD Robert Fico on Friday criticised the criminal proceedings regarding extremist criminal activities that have been launched against Smer-SD MP Lubos Blaha due to a photo on his Facebook page in which, with a smile and raised clenched fist, Blaha shows off a present that Fico had given him for his birthday, namely a five-pointed red star bearing the image of a communist hammer and sickle.

“It’s not normal that we deny history, that we treat symbols that are connected to the liberation of Czechoslovakia and Slovakia as something that’s criminal,” stated Fico in a video published on Facebook, noting that thousands of Russian soldiers lost their lives liberating Czechoslovakia. “Let’s have respect for those people and let’s stop making such a circus,” he added.

Fico called the criminal proceedings against Blaha a part of the on-going pre-election campaign. “We shame things that should be sacred to our country,” he noted. Fico at the same time explained that he bought the gift for Blaha in Russia.

Fico, who on Friday held a press conference in Banska Bystrica, stated regarding the published communications of Parliamentary Chair Andrej Danko (SNS) with Alena Zs., who’s among the defendants in the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak case, that the media don’t have any transcriptions of his communications and phone calls. The Smer-SD head said that he understands the mistakes of his male colleagues, who communicated with an unknown woman and didn’t know that they had communicated with Alena Zs.

“I agree with what Andrej Danko said. Men will be men and sometimes you receive a nice photo that probably doesn’t correspond to reality. Such men’s lapses then happen to them,” stated Fico. He noted that these lapses could be prevented if they don’t respond to calls from unknown phone numbers and don’t react to overly nice pictures of women. Fico stated that he doesn’t use such apps as Threema and WhatsApp and doesn’t pick up calling unknown phone numbers.

He went on to add that Alena Zs. also communicated with leader of We Are Family Boris Kollar, who allegedly sent her money, as well as lawyer Daniel Lipsic, who, according to Fico, had more than mere meetings with her.