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Political prisoners fills anti-discrimination action against Slovakia for violation of the principle of equal treatment and discrimination


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We publish in full the anti-discrimination action with part of the annexes – supplements, filed on July 1.st 2021 against the Slovak Republic - the Ministry of the Interior, including a translation into English sent to foreign embassies and EU institutions. Since the Slovak National Center for Human Rights, which as a National Anti-discrimination Office and National Institution for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Slovakia should provide free legal assistance to victims of discrimination did not even respond to the our Association's request, the Association therefore thanks lawyer JUDr. Ján Garaj, MBA, who took over the legal representation of the Association in a dispute against the Slovakia.We are the followers of World Association of Former Czechoslovak Political Prisoners,based in Canada in 1969,registered in Switzerland 1988.

Open letter to the Embassies and Institutions of the European Union regarding the liquidation of Association of Political Prisoners by the current government of the Slovak Republic
Application for support for the publication of the magazine Svedomie (Conscience)
Lawsuit/Appeal

https://www.topky.sk/cl/10/2148841/Zdruzenie-podalo-zalobu-voci-Ministerstvu-vnutra--Diskriminacia-pri-pridelovani-dotacii
Združenie podalo žalobu voči Ministerstvu vnútra: Diskriminácia pri prideľovaní dotácii

https://www.teraz.sk/slovensko/svetove-zdruzenie-byvalych-politick/562660-clanok.html
Svetové združenie bývalých politických väzňov podalo žalobu na MV SR

https://www.aktuality.sk/clanok/907354/byvali-politicki-vazni-podali-zalobu-na-rezort-vnutra-pre-pridelovanie-dotacii/
Bývalí politickí väzni podali žalobu na rezort vnútra pre prideľovanie dotácií

https://www.cas.sk/clanok/2551467/diskriminacia-pri-pridelovani-dotacii-ministerstvo-vnutra-celi-zalobe/
Diskriminácia pri prideľovaní dotácií?! Ministerstvo vnútra čelí žalobe

JUDr. Ján Garaj, MBA, lawyer
Registered in the list of lawyers, number 4271
registered office at Hviezdoslavova Street,Nro. 2, post code 058 01 Poprad
e-mail: obhajca@gmail.com, tel. 00421 915 640 930, 00421 911 437 381
account no. IBAN: SK48 7500 0000 0040 0310 9448 in ČSOB, a.s.

District Court BRATISLAVA I.
Zahradnicka Street 10,
post code 821 44 Bratislava,
Slovakia

Plaintiff: World Association of Former Political Prisoners (hereinafter referred to as WAFPP)
IČO: 37796542
Námestie Svätého Egídia 102/10,
post code 058 01 Poprad,
Slovakia

Legally represented: 
JUDr. Ján Garaj, MBA lawyer  
Hviezdoslavova Street 2,
post code 058 01 Poprad,
Slovakia

Defendant:         Slovak Republic - Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic,
Pribinova Street No.2,
post code 812 72 BRATISLAVA,
Slovakia

 

Lawsuit/Appeal to violation of the principle of equal treatment in the provision of subsidies to exhaustively defined Civic Associations in the authority and the budget chapter of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic
(Anti-discrimination appeal/lawsuit)

I. Violation of the principle of equal treatment - discrimination against Civic Associations representing former political prisoners

The Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of the Interior) provides subsidies for the activities of Civic Associations whose main mission is to organize reverential commemorations of crimes of fascism and communism as well as research, archiving and publishing activities of anti-communist resistance, totalitarian and crimes of communism. Prior to the change in the political system, the state subsidy was provided only to the Civic Association Slovak Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters (hereinafter referred to as the SUAFF), as Civic Associations representing former political prisoners were not allowed. After the fall of the communist regime, the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic began to provide a subsidy to the newly established KPVS – Konfederácia politických väzňov Slovenska - Confederation of Political Prisoners of Slovakia (CPPS), which was registered on 2 September 1991 under No. VVS / 1-909 / 90-171.
The history of the Civic Association CPPS and the establishment of two new associations representing former political prisoners in 1999 and 2001 are given in Supplement/Annex No. 1

    As we confirm in Annex No. 4, publicly available data from the website of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, on the amount of subsidies provided confirm that from 2002 to 2012 a higher subsidy was provided to Political Prisoners' Associations than the Slovak Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters. After the elections in 2012 and the beginning of the coalition led by the political party Smer-SD, the principle of the hitherto established parity of fair distribution of subsidies has been fundamentally changed and since 2013 to the detriment of Associations of Political Prisoners. The SZPB – (Slovenský zväz protifašistických bojovníkov is Slovak Union of Anti Fascist Fighters - SUAFF) was provided a subsidy more than twice the amount of the subsidy provided to the KPVS – (Konfederácia politických väzňov Slovenska – Confederation of Political Prisoners of Slovakia - CPPS ), PV ZPKO – (Politickí väzni, Zväz protikomunistického odboja - Political Prisoners Union of Anti-Communist Resistance – PP UACR) Associations and, since 2006, also to the WAFPP. This procedure of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic has occurred since 2013 and the principle of equal treatment in providing subsidies to exhaustively defined Civic Associations within the authority and the budget chapter of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic was violated. 1, of Act no. 365/2004 Coll. Anti-discrimination law. Discrimination against Associations representing former political prisoners and victims of Stalinism and Communism is confirmed by the fact that, despite the fact that the CFSP-World Association of Former Czechoslovak Political Prisoners – (in Slovak SZBPV) , is criticized for spreading pro-Russian propaganda and opposing Slovakia's Western and European orientation, as confirmed by several articles published in the Slovak media, Prime Minister Robert Fico for the magazine of the SZPB Bojovník – Fighter, magazine of World Union Anti-Fascist Fighters Association (WUAFFA) no. 2, year 2011, stated, we quote: "We must make the SZPVB – WUAFFA, an official part of state policy.” We repeatedly drew the attention of the then Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior to discrimination against Associations representing political prisoners, and as we confirm in Annex no. 5 Complaint of 19 July 2017 also the Council of Europe and the President of the European Parliament.
Despite our warnings, the current Minister of the Interior H.E. Roman Mikulec, who has the final word on the amount of subsidies provided, continues to discriminate against Political Prisoners' Associations.

Proof:

  • Annex no. 4 overview of the amount of subsidies provided for the years 2002 -2021
  • Association 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
    SUAFF 6 400 000 Sk 6 800 000 Sk 6 968 000 Sk 7 261 000 Sk 7 486 000 Sk 7 157 000 Sk 7 297 000 Sk 245 000 eur 320 000 eur 224 000 eur
    PP UACR 4 151 000 Sk 4 287 000 Sk 4 317 000 Sk 4 347 000 Sk 4 434 000 Sk 4 472 000 Sk 4 602 000 Sk 147 372 eur 160 000 eur 116 200 eur
    CPPS 2 340 000 Sk 3 325 000 Sk 3 425 000 Sk 3 548 000 Sk 3 518 000 SK 3 468 000 SK 3 598 000 Sk 110 000 eur 120 000 eur 87 150 eur
    WAFPP         200 000 Sk 200 000 Sk 200 000 Sk 6 640 eur 7 000 eur  
                         
      2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
    SUAFF 212 000 eur 300 000 eur 350 000 eur 359 400 eur 350 000 eur 350 000 eur 400 000 eur 401 000 eur 415 000 eur 250 000 eur
    PP UACR 103 000 eur 61 126  eur 71 000 eur 90 000 eur 76 000 eur 76 000 eur 80 000 eur 81 000 eur 81 000 eur 40 000 eur
    CPPS 105 000 eur 62 313 eur 66 000 eur 66 000 eur 66 000 eur 67 000 eur 73 000 eur 74 000 eur 74 000 eur 80 000 eur
    WAFPP 6 000 eur 3 561 eur 3 600 eur 3 600 eur 8 000 eur 7 000 eur 7 000 eur 8 000 eur 8 000 eur 4 000 eur

    SUAFF Slovak Union of Anti Fascist Fighters
    PP UACR Political Prisoners Union of Anti-Communist Resistance
    CPPS Confederation of Political Prisoners of Slovakia
    WAFPP World Association of Former Political Prisoners
    https://www.minv.sk/?dotacie
  • Annex no. 5 complaint sent to the Council of Europe dated 19 July 2017
  • II. Violation of the principle of equal treatment - Discrimination against the World Association of Former Political Prisoners on the grounds of political opinion.

    Violation of the principle of equal treatment in the provision of subsidies to exhaustively defined Civic Associations in the material scope of the budget chapter of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic has been demonstrably long-term since 2006 and continues to discriminate CFSP 1 of Act no. 365/2004 Coll. Anti-discrimination law, which we confirm by these:

      1.The Association is the successor organization of K 231 and the Association of Former Czechoslovak Political Prisoners, founded in the spring of 1968 at the time of Alexander Dubček's efforts to reform the communist regime. After the occupation on August 21, 1968, the Ministry of the Interior identified these associations as a tool of the Western Secret Services to break communism and banned their activities. At the time of normalization, the Associations were active in Canada and Switzerland. They published the magazine Svědomí a Mukl.-(Svědomí means Conscience and Mukl means Man Prepared for Liquidation). In principle, the CFSP defends the legacy of its predecessors and the ideas of democratic values and freedom for which the greatest sacrifices were made by political prisoners. It is demonstrably the only Association in which no registered ŠtB – Štátna bezpečnosť – State Security Police, employee worked in the management. Since the founding of the KPVS –Confederation of Political Prisoners of Slovakia,there have been concerns among politicians connected with the former regime and the State Security Council that an Association with a membership base of more than 10,000 members will not become a political party working to investigate the crimes of communism. For this reason, KPVS was infiltrated by ŠtB (State Security Police) collaborators, about which we can submit to the court evidence as obtained from the archives of the Ministry of Interior of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in Prague, including documentary evidence and testimonies of political prisoners proving the cooperation of several KPVS officials with ZVJS – Zbor väzenskej a Justičnej stráže – Union of Judicial and Prison Guard,internal protection, which is also confirmed by the registration volumes kept by the Institute of the Memory of the Nation – ÚPN - Ústav pamäti národa. For this reason, the activities of the CFSP, whose political convictions and thinking are different from those of the managing officials of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, have been eliminated for a long time by providing the lowest subsidy, which is insufficient for the Association to run due to the scope of agenda management and accounting. Since after the adoption of the Act on the provision of subsidies within the competence of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic no. 526/2010 Coll. the Association is entitled to provide a subsidy without a call announced by the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, its activities are eliminated.
    Proof:
  • Evidence of discrimination in the provision of subsidies due to political or other thinking are also the activities of the association listed in Annex no. 6.
  • testimony of the CFSP statute František Bednár, address Námestie sv. Egídia 102/14, 058 01 Poprad,Slovakia
  • testimony of Tatjana Šidlová, apartment, Hôrka 275, 032 12 Dúbrava,Slovakia
    1. 2. The Association has been long discriminated against compared to the KPVS and PV ZPKO Associations also in that the amount of the subsidy provided by the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic prevents it from publishing its own magazine. PV ZPKO publishes the monthly magazine "Svedectvo" – “Testimony”, and KPVS publishes the bimonthly magazine "Naše svedectvo" – “Our Testimony”. As confirmed by the report from the negotiations on the low amount of the subsidy for the CFSP,member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Kristián Čekovský with the director of the Public Administration Section of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter SVS MV SR) Adrián Jenčo, dated 18 March 2021 in Annex no. 7, the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic has a problem with the fact that the publication of the magazine and the activities of the CFSP would be politicized. The opinion of the SVS MV SR (Public Administration Section of Ministry of Interior of Slovak republic) with regard to the fact that it is an Association of political prisoners is irrational and clearly in conflict with the fundamental right to freedom of expression, as well as in conflict with the provisions of § 2 letter. g) of the Act on the provision of subsidies within the competence of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic no. 526/2010 Coll., Which stipulates the provision of subsidies for research, archiving and publishing activities of the anti-communist resistance, the fight against totalitarianism and the crimes of communism. The argument of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic that on the basis of negative media coverage it will not provide a subsidy to SZPV for the publication of Bojovník – Fighter magazine and PV ZPKO Svedectvo - Testimony,magazine is unfounded, because negative media coverage did not apply to CFSP activities. The fact that the Ministry of the Interior increased the subsidy provided to KPVS in 2021 confirms the violation of the principle of equal treatment, also due to the fact that KPVS is a member of the Slovak Government Minister, registration number 23214, code name "Caretaker"- Housekeeper. By supplementing the application for a subsidy for 2021 dated 11 April 2021, sent to the director of SVS MV SR, we requested an increase in the subsidy mainly due to the publication of the magazine "Svedomie" – “Consciense”, which we confirm in Annex no. 8.

    Proof:

  • Annex No.7, report from the meeting of the Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Kristián Čekovský with the Director of the Public Administration Section of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic dated 18 March 2021
  • Annex no. 8, Supplement to the application for a subsidy for 2021 dated 11 April 2021 sent to the Director SVS MV SR – Public Administration Section of SR
    1. 3. Violation of the principle of equal treatment in the provision of subsidies is confirmed by the procedure of the current Minister of the Interior Roman Mikulec, who decided on the proposal of the SVA MV SR in 2021 to provide SZPB with a subsidy of 350,000 euros, KPVS of 72,000 euros, PV ZPKO of 65,000 euros and CFSP in the amount of 8,000 euros, which is confirmed by the report from the meeting of Kristián Čekovský, Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic with the Director of the SVA MV SR of 18 March 2021. for KPVS 80,000 euros, for PV ZPKO 40,000 euros and for CFSPV 4,000 euros. We will prove the reduction of the subsidy for the CFSP by half without giving a reason, at the initiative of the Minister of the Interior, with several documentary evidence of CFSP communication with the Minister, function of March 26, 2020, in which we asked him to accept the issue of unfair provision of subsidies. However, the Minister of the Interior did not accept the association's request for admission when we wanted to inform him confidentially about several suspicions of economic and other criminal activity. Part of the letter concerning the hospital in Poprad-Kvetnice was forwarded by NAKA, which rejected him under the rug without hearing the proposed witness, and part concerning former President of PZ Milan Lučanský and former director of NAKA Branislav Zurian forwarded to the Office of Inspection Service (hereinafter referred to as ÚIS - Inspection Service Office - ISO). Problems arose for the Association in this way, as the statute filed a complaint against the ÚIS – ISO resolution on 26 February 2021 due to the false allegations of Branislav Zurian before the investigator. A few days after the complaint was lodged, former ÚIS (ISO) Director Adrián Szabó issued a mandate to carry out a financial audit of the subsidy provided by the CFSP in 2020. The effectiveness of the on-the-spot financial control is confirmed by the fact that he has never inspected ÚIS - ISO since 2007. The above facts, including the resolutions of the ÚIS – ISO Band the prosecutor's office with regard to the scope of documentary evidence, can be submitted to the court as part of the evidence. After two months, the financial audit did not identify any serious violations that would be a reason for the return of funds to the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, which we can prove with a report from the financial audit. We informed the Minister of the Interior about the above facts in a request for information on who initiated the former director of ÚIS –ISO to issue a power of attorney to perform a financial control to which the Minister did not respond. We informed the Minister of Interior about the result of the financial control by e-mail on 14 June 2021, which is confirmed by Annex no. 9.

    As we confirm with the application for the provision of a subsidy dated 4 January 2021, which is Annex no. 10, violation of the principle of equal treatment confirms the fact that the publication of the magazine "Svedomie"- “Conscience” and activities listed in the project of the Association for 2021 aimed at promoting democracy and the rule of law, including support of the current government in the proclaimed fight against political mafia and corruption undesirable, which is paradoxically in sharp conflict with the government's program statement.

    The activities of the project for which we applied to the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic in the application for a subsidy for 2021 to provide a subsidy in the amount of 50,000 euros and which we wanted to support the current coalition in accordance with its program statement are listed in Annex no. 11.

    All our proposals were undesirable for the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, as evidenced by the current efforts of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic to eliminate the Association by reducing the subsidy with the ultimate goal of its economic liquidation and which also confirms that.

    Proof:

    The Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic is aware that the activities of the above-mentioned Civic Associations require financial costs, inter alia, especially for wages due to the demanding keeping of accounting, the control of which is performed by the ÚIS – Úrad Inšpekčnej služby - Inspection Service Office (ISO) . The majority of the provided subsidy is intended for wages, which is confirmed by PV ZPKO's (Political Prisoners - Union of Anti Comunist Fighters) Unresponse to our request for information in accordance with the Act on Free Access to Information of 2 June 2021, which we attach in Annex no. 12. KPVS (CPPS) refused to provide the CFSP request and information on the amount of wage costs, which we confirm in Annex no. 13. Peter Sandtner, 35 years old, chairman of KPVS, also refused to provide a request for information on wage costs to KPVS member Peter Klyučkovič, although he was obliged to do so according to the Articles of Association Confederation of Slovak Political Prisoners CPPS (Abreviation in Slovak is KPVS) .He also did not accept his objections to the illegitimate and illegal way change of Article on November 2020 at the time of Covid – Caranteen,, when for this reason they could not be approved by a 2/3 majority of the General Assembly, so that a member of the Bureau may also be a KPVS (CPPS) member who was not a political prisoner or his close relatives. Article 8, par.1) Rules of CPPS. Reduced number of members of the presidency from 7 to 3. We also consider the fact that the Ministry of Interior SR registered the statutes of KPVS (CPPS) without verifying the legitimacy of their approval as a violation of the principle of equal treatment, which confirms the rejection of Petr Klyučkovič's initiative by the director of SVS MV SR (Section of Public Administrations of Ministry of Interior Slovak Republic) ) in Annex no. 14. The complaint for the conduct of the JRC procedure of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic was rejected by the former director of ÚIS (ISO) Adrián Szabó, which is confirmed by Annex no. 15. The Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic is demonstrably passive in violation of the statutes by the KPVS Civic Association. He accepts the fact that the vice-chairman is entrusted with the management of the KPVS, which calls into question the function of the chairman, which is performed by a member of the KPVS who was not a political prisoner in violation of the original KPVS statutes.(Article 8,paragraph 1.) In contrast to the tolerant approach to KPVS, SVS MV SR criticizes the PV ZPKO Association for the presentation of their opinions in their magazine Svedectvo (Testimony) and considers the activities of the CFSP, including the publication of the magazine "Svedomie"(“Consciense”) , to be a problem.
    Proof:

    • Annex no. 13, KPVS refusal to provide information on wage costs dated 28 May 2021, including the response of the CFSP Statute
    • answer of the director of SVS MV SR dated 16 February 2021
    • notification of the result of the investigation of the complaint of the ÚIS býv. Director of ÚIS dated 10 May 2021
    • requesting information from the court on the amount of wage costs of the KPVS Association
    • witness statement of the CFSP statute František Bednár Chairman of Civic Association
    • witness statement of KPVS member Petr Klyučkovič, resident of Michalovce Kuzmányho Street,Nro.5, Slovakia

    The procedure of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic is obviously in conflict with the principle of equal treatment in relation to Civic Associations representing political prisoners. This practice of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic has been continuously demonstrably since 1999, when the KPVS was divided for political reasons. The principle of providing subsidies was politicized according to the government's power. The main criterion for the amount of the subsidy provided was not and is not the project or the number of members of the Association but the political connection to the management of the Civic Association, which confirms the fact that the chairman of the KPVS – Confederation Political Prisoners of Slovakia - CPPS was the former Interior Minister Ladislav Pittner. The Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic continues these practices under the leadership of the current Minister of the Interior Roman Mikulec, who signed a decision to increase the subsidy for KPVS to 80,000 euros, while PV ZPKO – Political Prisoners Union of Anticommunist Resistance Fighters PP UARF,and CFSP – WAFCPP – our Civic Association - World Association Former Czechoslovak Political Prisoners,reduced the subsidy by half without giving a reason. The violation of the principle of equal treatment is unequivocally and without any doubt confirmed by the fact that the head of KPVS is entrusted to the head of the District Office in Bratislava, belonging to the Ministry of Interior, Branislav Borovský, who according to the Commercial Register. We drew the attention of the Minister of the Interior to the sharp Conflict of interests by sending a Request for the provision of information in accordance with the statutes of the KPVS (CPPS) and the Act on Free Access to Information Information Act,no. 211/2000 Coll. of 26 May 2021, which was sent to the filing office of the District Office in Bratislava, which we confirm in Annex no. 16. According to the Information Act, no information was provided within 8 days as of the date of the action.

    Proof:

    • Annex no. 16, Request for the provision of information in accordance with the statutes of KPVS – CPPS ,and the law on free access to information Act no. 211/2000 Coll. of 26 May 2021
    • III. Infringements of the principle of equal treatment

      1. In the period 2013-2021, the principle of equal treatment in the sense of the Anti-Discrimination Act was demonstrably violated in providing subsidies to Civic Associations KPVS, PV ZPKO and CFSP, which were discriminated against by the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic by twice as much as the Civic Association This discrimination still occurs today. Civic Associations representing political prisoners, which were established after the return of the Slovak Republic to democratic values and to the community of European nations, are to have an equal status with the Civic Association of Anti-fascist Fighters, which was privileged even during the Communist regime.

      2. In the period 2006 - 2021, the principle of equal treatment in the sense of the Anti-Discrimination Act was demonstrably violated in providing subsidies to Civic Associations KPVS, PV ZPKO and the World Association of Former Czechoslovak Political Prisoners since 2018 called SZBPV, to which the Ministry of Interior , while this Association has the same agenda and activities as the Associations KPVS and PV ZPKO.

      3. When providing subsidies for 2021, the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic under the leadership of the Minister of the Interior Roman Mikulec violated the principle of equal treatment in accordance with the Anti-Discrimination Act when providing subsidies to Civic Associations KPVS, PV ZPKO and CFSP. KPVS, which is demonstrably connected with the current government, whose management is entrusted to the head of the District Office in Bratislava, was provided with a subsidy of 80,000 euros, while PV ZPKO was reduced to half of this amount, ie 40,000 euros, without giving a reason. Without giving a reason, the subsidy to the CFSP was reduced by half the amount provided in 2020 to the amount of EUR 4,000, which is 20 times lower than the amount provided to KPVS.

      Since the Minister of the Interior of the Slovak Republic Roman Mikulec did not respond to the pre-litigation call - an attempt at an out-of-court settlement of 21 May 2021, which we attach in Annex no. 17 and did not answer the question stated in the answer of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic to the request for the provision of information Annex no. 18 - stating the reason for halving the subsidy for CFSP for 2021, therefore there is no presumption of compliance with the principle of equal treatment in accordance with the Anti-Discrimination Act by the Ministry of Interior, nor the willingness of the current Minister of the Interior to eliminate violations of equal treatment in accordance with , we propose that the court, after examining the above evidence, rule as follows

      J U D G M E N T

      ACTION FOR VIOLATION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL TREATMENT In 2013-2021, the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic violated the principle of equal treatment in providing subsidies by providing the Slovak Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters a disproportionately higher subsidy than Civic Associations representing political prisoners, the Confederation of Political Prisoners of Slovakia, the Political Prisoners Association and the Anti-Communist Union. former Czechoslovak political prisoners since 2018 under the name World Association of Former Czechoslovak Political Prisoners.

      The Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic is obliged to refrain from violating the principle of equal treatment and to provide subsidies on the principle of equal treatment fairly in the same amount as it was since 2002 when the Slovak Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters and the Confederation of Political Prisoners of Slovakia provided subsidies. In 2000, was the only Association represented political prisoners.

      In 2006-2021, the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic violated the principle of equal treatment in the provision of subsidies by providing the Civic Associations Confederation of Political Prisoners of Slovakia and Political Prisoners of the Anti-Communist Resistance Association disproportionately higher subsidy than the World called the World Association of Former Political Prisoners.
      The Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic is obliged to refrain from violating the principle of equal treatment and to provide subsidies to Associations representing political prisoners on the principle of equal treatment in a fair amount.
      The Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic is obliged to compensate the damage caused to the World Association of Former Political Prisoners by providing a subsidy for an activity in an insufficient amount by appropriate compensation at the discretion and decision of the court.

      Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic with its registered office, Pribinova2, 812 72 Bratislava SLOVAKIA Bratislava is ordered to pay the applicant's costs and legal expenses within 3 days of the entry into force of this judgment. "

      In Poprad on 1. July 2021

      Attachments:
      1. history of civic associations
      2. appointment decree former Prosecutor General of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
      3. CFSP statutes
      4. overview of the amount of subsidies provided for the years 2002 -2021
      5. Complaint sent to the Council of Europe on 19 July 2017
      6. activities of the association
      7. the report from the meeting of the Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Kristián Čekovský with the Director of the Public Administration Section of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic dated 18 March 2021
      8. Supplement to the application for a subsidy for 2021 dated 11.4. 2021 sent to the director SVS MV SR
      9. e-mail on the result of the financial control sent to the Minister of the Interior dated 14 June 2021
      10. application for the provision of a subsidy dated 4 January 2021
      11. project activities for 2021
      12. PV ZPKO's reply to the request for information on the amount of wage costs dated 2 June 2021
      13. KPVS's refusal to provide information on wage costs dated 28 May 2021
      14. Answer of the Director of SVS MV SR dated 16 February 2021
      15. notification of the result of the investigation of the ÚIS complaint of the former Director of ÚIS dated 10 May 2021
      16. request for the provision of information in accordance with the statutes of the KPVS and the law on free access to information no. 211/2000 Coll. of 26 May 2021
      17. pre-litigation summons - attempted out-of-court settlement of 21 May 2021
      18. response of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic to the request for the provision of information pursuant to the Information Act dated 29 June 2021

      Power of attorney for lawyer JUDr. Ján Garaj, MBA
      extract from the list of Civic Associations
      Minutes of the membership meeting proving the election of František Bednář as a CFSP official chairman

      Explanations of the names of Civic Associations in Slovak & English

      PV ZPKO – Politickí väzni zväz protikomunistického odboja
      PP UACRF – Political Prisoners Union of Anticommunist Resistance Fighters

      KPVS --- Konfederácia politických väzňov Slovenska
      CPPS – Confederation Political Prisoners of Slovakia

      SZBPV -- Svetové združenie bývalých politických väzňov
      WAFPP – World Association of FormerPolitical Prisoners

      SZPB – Slovenský zväz protifašistických bojovníkov
      SUAFF -- Slovak Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters


                                                                                                                            Annex no. 1

      History of Civic Associations representing political prisoners and victims of communism

      Prior to the change in the political system, the state subsidy was provided only to the Civic Association Slovak Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters (hereinafter referred to as the SZPB), as Civic Associations representing former political prisoners were not allowed. After the fall of the communist regime, the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic began to provide a subsidy to the newly established Confederation of Political Prisoners of Slovakia (KPVS), which was registered on 2 September 1991 under no. VVS / 1-909 / 90-171.

      On June 13, 1999, the KPVS Assembly approved a change of name to the Union of Anti-Communist Resistance.

      In September 1999, some members of the Association, which according to the statutes declared itself to be non-partisan, separated from the Association due to differing views in support of political parties and movements. According to PV ZPKO, about 15% of the membership base joined the new organization, which was transformed from the KDH-(Christian Democratic Movement) supported Club of Christian-Oriented Political Prisoners, which confirms the fact that the chairman of the newly formed association in 2002-2003 was former KDH nominee Ladislav Pittner. The Association was registered by the Ministry of the Interior on September 6, 1999 under no. SVS / 1-900 / 90-15657, abusing the change of the name of KPVS from 13 June 1999 to the Union of Anti-Communist Resistance and appropriating the name of the original organization KPVS, as KPVS did not apply for the trademark of the name of the Association. The Association, registered on 6 September 1999, is still presenting itself as the successor organization of KPVS, and this de jure does not correspond to reality. The Association misleadingly declares that it was established in 1990, as evidenced by its official statements on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of KPVS.

      In 2001, a part of KPVS members joined the World Association of Former Czechoslovak Political Prisoners, registered in Zurich, Switzerland, on August 21, 1968 in Poprad, on the grounds that it was not part of the KPVS program due to violation of the principle of non-partisanship and rejection of the proposal to install a Memorial to the Victims of Occupation on August,21.st 1976, which agreed with the unveiling of the Memorial to the Victims of the Occupation on August 21, 1968. Former Prosecutor General of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic Jiří Šetina appointed an appointment decree of the KPVS presidency František Bednár to establish an organization in Slovakia in accordance with the statutes of the World Association of Former Czechoslovakia. political prisoners, which is confirmed by Annex No.2. Subsequently, on August 6, 2001, the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic registered a Civic Association called the World Association of Former Czechoslovak Political Prisoners, which later became the successor organization of the original Association with this name after the termination of its activities in Switzerland and the Czech Republic. In 2006, former members of the Slovak Association of the Violently Abducted (SANO) joined the Association. With the entry of forcibly abducted NKVDs (Soviet Political Secret Police) into labor camps in the former USSR and their relatives, the Association's membership base increased to approximately the same number as stated by PV ZPKO (approximately 1,000 members) on March 29, 2018, the name was changed to the World Association of Former Political Prisoners. Annex no. 3 statutes of the Association

      Since its registration in 2001, the Association has repeatedly unsuccessfully applied to the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic for a subsidy for activities such as those provided to SZPB, KPVS and PV ZPKO. At a time when the association was not provided with a subsidy, in 2002 in Poprad, it is currently unveiled in Slovakia the only Memorial to the Victims of the Occupation on August 21, 1968, with statistics on victims in the former Czechoslovakia. In 2004, the association had the bodily remains of two victims killed in 1980 on the border with Austria exhumed and transferred from Austria to Slovakia and deposited at the Memorial to the Borders at the Borders in 1948-1989 at the cemetery in Kežmarok. It was not until 2006, based on the decision of the former Minister of the Interior Vladimír Palek, that the association was included among the civic associations, which are provided with a subsidy when it was provided with a subsidy in the amount of SKK 200,000.

                                                                                                                                       Annex no. 6

      Evidence of discrimination in the provision of subsidies for political opinion,or other thinking, are these activities of the Association:

    • Submission to the Prosecutor General's Office Opened Letter - a call for political prisoners to lift the embargo on the file of the still unexplained death of priest Přemysl Coufal ”, which was published on the website http://www.szcpv.org/19/vyzva.html with a warning in the article "How long will the General Prosecutor's Office of the Slovak Republic cover up the crimes of communism?" Witness of the murder of priest P. Coufal, former CSA (Czechoslovak Airlines) flight attendant Tatjana Šidlová, who was his neighbor at the time of his death and heard noise in his apartment Journalist Marcel Samuhel, who questioned the official version of suicide in late April 1993 after writing a comprehensive article in Slovak daily about the murder of Přemysl Coufal, mysteriously disappeared without a trace in High Tatras. His body was never found. The last sentence of his mentioned. The article in the Slovak daily, which he signed under the pseudonym "Green", read: "If something happens to me, I inform the General Prosecutor's Office of the Slovak Republic that I do not intend to commit suicide.” http://www.szcpv.org/20/zlociny2.html

    •  protest of the association from 2003 against the election of Dobroslav Trnka as General Prosecutor's Office published on the association's website http://www.szcpv.org/04/trnka.html

    •  a call for resignation sent to the then President of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic Štefan Harabin, who in 1986 convicted the late Franciscan Cyril Bystrík Janík, who died at the age of 47, as part of the Štb action under the code name "Vír". the association unveiled a memorial plaque in Liptovská Teplička, published on the web http://www.szcpv.org/09/ocistenie.html

    •   submission of a proposal for the establishment of a civil commission, which would prepare a public lawsuit for crimes against humanity and economic crimes committed after November 1989 published o website http://www.szcpv.org/11/tribunal.html under which the association submitted to the Government of the Slovak Republic, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice a “Proposal for Adoption of the Act on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities and the Amendment of the Act on proof of origin of property no. 101/2010 Coll. "

    • criminal complaint in the matter of illegal destruction of the original Gorilla recording - notification of facts indicating the commission of the criminal offense “Abuse of power of a public official” pursuant to Section 326, the criminal offense “Retention” pursuant to Section 339, the criminal offense “Failure to report a criminal offense” pursuant to Section 340 and the criminal offense “Non-misrepresentation website http://www.szcpv.org/19/podanie.html

    •  Information for the Minister of Health on life-threatening and health-threatening situations in the sub-Tatra region after the abolition of the infectious disease department in Poprad and the theft of the largest Specialized hospital for the treatment of TB and respiratory diseases in Kvetnice http://www.szcpv.org/20/pandemia.html

    •  Proposal of the World Association of Former Political Prisoners to overcome economic impacts on citizens as a result of a coronavirus pandemic http://www.szcpv.org/20/navrh.html

    •                                                                                                                                  Annex no. 11

      The activities of the project for which we applied to the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic for a subsidy in the amount of 50,000 €, in the application for a subsidy for 2021 are listed in Annex no. 11.

      -adequate response to disinformation activities, especially on social networks, as well as relativisation of crimes of human fascism, and manifestations of intolerance such as the deputies of the National Council of the Slovak Republic on behalf of Marián Kotleba’s Political Party - ĽSNS – Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko – People’s Party of Our Slovakia. Also on the manifestations of relativization of the crimes of Stalinism and communism, especially by the deputy of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Ľuboš Bláha (Orthodox NeoMarxsist) and others and their destructive activities aimed at the current government. Given that the 2020 elections brought together representatives of human nationalism and representatives of political parties who, under the guise of social democracy, violated the rule of law and are responsible for widespread corruption, we considered it necessary to focus on shaping the public and especially young people. People on our National past without false deposits of nationalism and purposeful distortion of the events of our history and expand the focus of the magazine to current topics with a focus on combating the spread of disinformation, while we would like to cooperate with the Slovak Police and its official internet campaign Hoax and Fraud, to inform about cases related to economic crime, corruption, environmental protection and topics that will address the general public and especially young people

      - Organizing discussions with primary and secondary school students in order to raise awareness of the periods of totalitarian regimes 1938-1989, especially in places where the teaching of history and our history is most absent, creating fertile ground for extremist groups and increasing tensions in society. In separate submissions, we proposed to the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic and the Government that the CFSP - WAFCPP, as the only one of the three Associations representing political prisoners, has a moral right to declare publicly that criminal groups, as officially stated at the Police Presidium and the Special Prosecutor's Office, support and coverage from the highest political positions.

      We also suggested that we had sufficient documentary and other evidence from former members of the secret services about economic crimes committed after 1989, which we wanted to label as ongoing crimes of communism in the post-communist era, for which we wanted to initiate an international conference in cooperation with associations in Poland, Hungary and the Baltic States. Subsequently, a legal framework would be created for the adoption of legislation enabling 100% taxation of unsubstantiated property income retroactively from 1990, which could solve the current economic problems of the Slovak Republic.


                                                                                                                                                   Annex no. 11

      WORLD ASSOCIATION OF FORMER POLITICAL PRISONERS
      IČO: 37796542 DIČ: 2021593816                                                                                                          
      Nám. Sv. Egídia 102/10, 058 01 Poprad
      Tel: ++ 421 52 7722626, ++ 421 903 142771
      email: szcpv@szcpv.org
      http://www.szcpv.org                          
      Dear Mr. Head
      of the Bratislava District Office
      Mgr. Branislav Borovsky
      Tomasikova 46, 832 05 Bratislava podatelna.ba@minv.sk   
         

                                                                                        Poprad May 26, 2021
       Our number   sz 26/21

      Subject: Request for information pursuant to the statutes of the KPVS and the Act on Free Access to Information no. 211/2000 Coll

       Request to convene a general meeting of KPVS due to illegitimacy of the election of the chairman of KPVS Petr Sandtner in violation of the Articles of Association, illegitimacy of the amendment to the Articles of Association on 16 November 2020 and due to discussion of the proposed merger of civic associations into a common organization

      Dear Mr. President, as you are the Vice-President of the Confederation of Political Prisoners of Slovakia (KPVS) entrusted with its management, as officially stated on the website http://www.kpvs.sk/struktura.asp , in connection with the filing of an anti-discrimination action against the Slovak Republic The Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic for violating the principles of equal treatment in providing subsidies from the state budget, on behalf of KPVS members who are members of KPVS and also members of our association such as Ms. Elena Bačkorová, Anna Malá and others, we ask for the information below.
                  According to the statutes of KPVS, members have the right to be provided with information concerning the activities of the association, including the use of funds of the association. I have been a member of KPVS since March 1990, and my membership continued even after the division of KPVS in 1999, which I confirm in the appendix with a photocopy of membership card no. 000536 issued on March 7, 2000 in Bratislava, also by a photocopy of the KPVS membership card of my mother Helena Bednárová no. card 00537. At the founding assembly on November 27, 1999 in Spišská Nová Ves, I was elected to the position of the 15-member presidency of KPVS, which I also confirm in the appendix. KPVS member Peter Klyučkovič, for whom the KPVS membership card was issued on 11 August 2020 without stating the card number, also asked us to provide information.
                  On the basis of the stated reason as well as in accordance with the Act on Free Access to Information no. 211/2000 Coll., We request the provision of the following information:

      1. the amount of KPVS costs for wages for the year 2020,
      2.  number of employment contracts resp. agreements, without giving personal data of the name and surname, including the position
      3.  the amount of individual salaries, including the statutory salary
      4. the amount of annual costs for the year 2020 for the publication of the bimonthly KPVS "Our Testimony" IBAN EV3064 / 09
      5. sending a photocopy of the minutes, resolutions and voting results, including the attendance list from the General Assembly, which approved the amendment to the KPVS Articles of Association submitted to the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic on 16 November 2020.
      6. statement or person Branislav Borovský, serial number of the candidate for KDH 29, without title, age 56, employment consultant, as confirmed by the website

            https://volby.aktuality.sk/volby-2020/kandidat/branislav-borovsky/kdh-29/ is identical with your    
      person as yes, whether you ran in the 2020 elections for the political party KDH as a
      member of the party or as its nominant. (KPVS declares, as confirmed by its website
      http://www.kpvs.sk/index.asp, that it is a non-partisan civic association according to Act 83/1990
      Coll.)

      1. statement or person Branislav Borovský with the title Mgr., listed in the Commercial Register of the Slovak Republic https://www.orsr.sk/hladaj_osoba.asp?PR=Borovsk%FD&MENO=Branislav&SID=0&T=f0&R=0 in connection with 17 business entities , is identical with your person or it is a namesake resp. relative. In the video of February 12, 2020 published on the social network https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=214002693089371 you state that I quote: "... I have worked for many years in many companies, commercial companies, in managerial positions , multinational companies, I currently work as a consultant for an American company ... "
      2. a statement about the highest level of education achieved, as the profile on the social network Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010935487721 states Gymnázium Ul. Ladislav Sara and in the box employment and education, without university. At the time of the candidacy in 2020, it is stated without a title. On the website of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, Mgr. Branislav Borovský.

      We appreciate your civic stance from 1983 when you were sentenced to 14 months in prison for transporting religious literature from Poland to Czechoslovakia. On the other hand, we must state that while you enjoy the material and social benefits of your conviction, we do not know that you would seek fair compensation for political prisoners such as Jozef Sakáč, sentenced by a 13-year-old military trial for espionage, which has not been rehabilitated to date. or npor. ČSĽA Branislav Dluhoš, who was left with the so-called residual punishment for attempting to flee to the Federal Republic of Germany with the self-propelled howitzer Gvozdik, or many others who continue to be discriminated against by residual punishment for their real resistance activities against the communist regime.
      To point no. We add that we have always been interested in unification and cooperation between the associations representing political prisoners, so we did not want to comment on their internal activities. At the instigation of some members of the KPVS, we cannot be indifferent to them due to their seriousness, as this damages the good name of the political prisoners themselves.

      We were warned that after the death of KPVS chairman Anton Srholec in KPVS in violation of the Act on Civic Associations and in violation of the original statutes, these statutes were arbitrarily amended in favor of the current KPVS chairman Petr Sandtner, who decides on KPVS activities and its financing. As confirmed by the original Articles of Association of 2006 adopted by the General Meeting by a 2/3 majority of the members of the seven-member presidency pursuant to Art. 8 par. 1 can only be a political prisoner or a relative.
      There is a reasonable suspicion that after pointing out that the election of KPVS chairman Petr Sandtner in 2016 and 2019 was illegitimate because only a political prisoner or his relative can be a member of the KPVS presidency, the KPVS statutes were purposefully amended without discussion and approval by a 2/3 majority. members of the general meeting. The statutes were previously amended by several amendments, which is possible only if it is stated in the statutes. The original statutes of KPVS are published on the website  http://www.szcpv.org/21/obr/stanovy_kpvs.pdf  The original articles of association were amended several times by amendments. After notifying KPVS member Petr Klyučkovič on 16 November 2020, at the time of the ban on gathering more than 6 people, the statutes were registered, which were registered in December 2020, according to which the number of members of the presidency is reduced from seven to three. 1, it is no longer stated that a member of the Bureau may be a political prisoner or a relative. http://www.kpvs.sk/dokumenty/Stanovy.pdf There
      are therefore justified concerns that associations and subsidies provided from the state budget will be decided only by a narrow group of three members of the presidency.
                  In conclusion, we state that unless civic associations are embezzled by the legacy and ideas of anti-communist resistance in the sense of Act no. 125/1996 Coll. on the immorality and illegality of the communist system, Act no. 219/2006 Coll. on anti-communist resistance and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, their activities must be transparent and subsidies provided from the state budget should be provided in accordance with Slovak legislation without violating the principle of equal treatment or other violation of the principle of equality, which guarantees protection and action in accordance morals is the anti-discrimination law.
      The subsidies provided for the year 2021 after the signing of the contracts by the current Minister of the Interior of the Slovak Republic Roman Mikiloc are in conflict with the observance of the principle of equality and the principle of equal treatment. The subsidy for the PV ZPKO association was reduced from EUR 82,000 in 2020 to EUR 40,000, and the subsidy for our association was reduced from EUR 8,000 in 2020 to EUR 4,000. The subsidy to KPVS was increased from EUR 74,000 in 2020 to EUR 80,000. 

      Sincerely
      František Bednár
      Chairman of the CFSP
      Annex:
      Photocopies of KPVS membership cards
      Resolution from the General Meeting of KPVS held on November 27, 1999



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