(Find English version of the article below.)
Za posledné dva týždne vyšlo tisíce ľudí do ulíc protestovať proti prepojeniu najvyšších úrovní slovenskej politiky na organizovaný zločin.
Nemám veľa čo povedať o slušnosti, o jednotlivých politikoch, o slobode slova, či o detailoch súčasnej politickej situácie. Iní toho povedali viac a lepšie ako by som kedy dokázal ja.
Chcem však povedať jednu vec a to toto: Priatelia, nie sme v tom sami.
V susednom Česku práve teraz protestujú proti Zemanovým útokom na slobodu slova a proti premiérovi, ktorého vyšetrujú pre podozrenie z podvodov.
Roku 2014 protestovalo v Maďarsku stotisíc ľudí proti Orbánovi v takzvaných "protestoch proti Internetovej dani".
V Poľsku sme v máji 2016, keď sa vládna strana pokúsila zabezpečiť si beztrestnosť zlikvidovaním nezávislého súdnictva, videli dvestotisícové demonštrácie.
V Rumunsku boli minulú zimu, keď sa vláda pod rúškou noci pokúsila legalizovať korupciu, polmiliónové protesty, desaťkrát väčšie ako tie čo sme dnes videli na Slovensku.
A akokoľvek vyzerajú všetky tie kauzy rozlišne, v skutočnosti ide vždy o jednu a tú istú vec: Ľudia už nechcú korupciu a zločin v politike. Nepáči sa im, že zločinci, len preto, že sú zhodou okolností zároveň politikmi, majú páky, ktorú im umožňujú vyhnúť sa trestu.
Takže ak si myslíme, že stotisíc protestujúcich Slovákov v konečnom dôsledku nič nezmení, nemáme pravdu. Nejde totiž len o stotisíc Slovákov, ale o milióny nahnevaných a protestujúcich ľudí po celom svete.
Lenže aby sme uspeli, musíme si pomáhať.
Prestaňme sa teda skrývať za národnú suverenitu a povedzme otvorene: Ak tu stojíme na námestí nie je to len preto, aby padol Fico a aby sa vyšetrili vraždy dvoch mladých ľudí. Stojíme tu aj preto, aby si v Česku nemohla neobmedzene šafáriť skorumpovaná vláda v demisii, aby v Rumunsku nelegalizovali korupciu, aby bola v Poľsku nezávislá justícia. Aby sa Maďarsko nezmenilo na kleptokratický štát po vzore Ruska. Nestojíme tu len za slušnosť v slovenskej politike, ale aj za slušnosť všade na svete.
Povedzme to otvorene a nahlas a povedzme to z pódií, pretože skorumpovaní politici všade na svete počúvajú a keď zistia, že im už nestačí len prežiť protesty vo svojom pašaliku, ale že ich budú brať na zodpovednosť aj slušní ľudia v iných krajinách, padne im srdce do nohavíc.
A viete čo? Hoci si to neuvedomujeme, v skutočnosti si už pomáhame. Politici sledujú a rozmýšľajú, čo si môžu dovoliť. Ak by v Rumunsku prešla legalizácia korupcie, ak by davy nevyšli do ulíc protestovať, ako dlho by trvalo, kým by podobný zákon presadil Orbán, Babiš, PiS, alebo, áno, Fico.
A nemyslime si, že ne medzinárodnej scéne nemáme šancu. Šesťdesiattisíc ľudí podpísalo petíciu Európskemu Parlamentu, aby vytvorili nezávislý tím na vyšetrenie vrážd. A prečo nie? Právne je to síce zložité, ale prinajmenšom nám sem poslali komisiu preskúmať, čo sa to tu deje. A zrazu počúvam reči o spoločnom slovensko-talianskom vyšetrovacom tíme. A vôbec, ak súčasné pravidlá ohľadom národnej suverenity zabraňujú, aby bola nestranne vyšetrené vražda novinára a vinníci postavení pred súd, potom je niečo v neporiadku s našimi pravidlami a treba ich zmeniť. Aspoň budeme mať za čo demonštrovať, a možno za niečo lepšie ako za predčasné voľby, o ktorých vôbec nie je isté, či niečo zmenia k lepšiemu.
A počujte: Ak sa pri demonštráciách na Slovensku zastaneme Rumunov, ak nedvojzmyselne povieme, že legalizácia korupcie je medzinárodne neakceptovateľné chrapúnstvo, možno nám Rumuni na oplátku požičajú svôj protikorupčný tím, ktorý, ako sa povráva, je jedným z najlepších v Európe.
A potom tu máme ešte aj celú budova medzinárodného práva. Nie je síce práve krásna a je plná dier, ale sú v nej časti, o ktorých sa oplatí vedieť a ktoré sa dajú vylepšiť. Je tu idea univerzálnej jurisdikcie. Je tu Medzinárodný Trestný Súd. Zaoberá sa síce len vojnovými žločinmi a zločinmi proti ľudskosti, ale nikde nie je napísané že sa jeho štatúť nedá rozšíriť. A ak nie, sa dá vždy vytvoriť nova medzinárodná inštitúcia, či už na vyšetrovanie, alebo na súdenie obvinených. Medzinárodné inštitúcie sú vytvárané štátmi a štáty sa dajú pohnúť tým, čo ľudia požadujú.
Takže, priatelia a susedia, nič nie je stratené. Je nás veľa. Sú nás milióny. Ak sa nenecháme politikmi nahnať do malých provinčných košiarikov, sme sila, ktorá dokáže nielen žiadať o slušnosť v politike, ale aj zabezpečiť že zákon bude skutočne platiť pre všetkých a všade na svete.
(English translation follows.)
In past couple of weeks thousands went out to the streets to protest against connections between the highest echelons of Slovak political life and the organized crime.
I don't have much to say about common decency, about individual politicians, about freedom of speech or about the details of the current political situation. Others have said more and they've said it better than I ever would.
However, I still want to say the following: Friends, we are not alone.
In the neighbouring Czechia there are protests going on right now against Zeman's attacks on the freedom of speech and against the prime minister who's being investigated for fraud.
In 2014, hundred thousand have protested in Hungary against Orbán in the so called "Internet tax" protests.
In Poland, in May 2016, when the ruling party tried to secure impunity by destroying the independence of the judiciary, we've seen protest 200,000 strong.
There were half-a-million-strong protests in Romania last winter, ten times the size of the current protests in Slovakia, when the government, under the cover of night, tried to legalize corruption.
And even though all those cases look different, in reality it's always about the same thing: People don't want corruption and crime in politics any more. They are not amused if the criminals, just because they also happen to be politicians, possess the levers to avoid the punishment.
So, if we believe that, at the grand scale of things, hundred thousand protesting Slovaks won't change anything we should reconsider. It's not about hundred thousand Slovaks. It's about millions of disgruntled and protesting people all over the world.
But to succeed, we have to help each other.
So let's stop hiding behind national sovereignty and let's say it aloud: If we are standing here in the streets it's not only to get rid of Fico and to investigate murders of the two young people. We are here also so that corrupt government in demission in Czechia can't do whatever they want. So that corruption stays illegal in Romania. So that there's independent judiciary in Poland. So that Hungary won't devolve into a cleptocratic state modeled on Russia. We are standing here not only for decency in Slovak politics but also for decency all over the world.
Let's say it openly and let's say it aloud. Let's say it from the tribunes, because corrupt politicians all over the world are listening and once they'll realize that it won't be enough to survive protests in their own bailiwicks any more, that they will be held responsible even by decent people in other countries, they will be afraid.
And you know what? We may not realize it, but we are already helping each other. Politicians are watching and thinking about how much they can get away with. If corruption was legalized in Romania, if hundreds of thousands haven't protested in the streets, how long would it take before a similar law would be passed by Orbán, Babiš, PiS, or, yes, Fico?
And let's not think that there's no way we can achieve anything on the international stage. Sixty thousand people have signed a petition to European Parliament to create an independent team to investigate the murders. And why not? It may be a complex legal problem, but at least they've sent a commission to find out what the hell is going on here. And suddenly I hear that creation of joined Slovak-Italian investigative team is being considered. And anyways. If the current rules about national sovereignty prevent impartial investigation of the murder, then there's a problem with the rules and they should be changed. At least we'll have something to protest for. And maybe it will be a better goal than early elections, which in no way guarantee a change for the better.
And listen: If the protesters in Slovakia will stand for the Romanians, if they unambiguously say that legalization of corruption is an internationally unacceptable boorishness, maybe the Romanians will lend us their anti-corruption team, which, as I hear, is one of the best in Europe.
And there's also the entire edifice of international law. It's not exactly beautiful and it's full of holes, but there are parts that are worth knowing about. The parts that can be improved on. There's the idea of universal jurisdiction. There's International Criminal Court. It is concerned only with war crimes and crimes against humanity, but nothing is set in stone. It's scope can be expanded. And if it can't, it's always possible to create a new international institution, whether an investigative or a judicial one. International institutions are created by states and states can be swayed by what people demand.
And so, friends and neighbours, nothing is lost yet. There's a lot of us. There are millions of us. If we won't let the politicians drive us into little provincial sheep-folds, we are a power. A power that can not only demand decency in politics, but also to make sure that one day the law will apply to everyone and everywhere.
March 22nd, 2018
Hello Martin. I’d like to offer a small correction to why people went out to streets in May 2016. The actual reason is exactly opposite to what you stated. The ruling party has proposed the law to finally cease impunity and corruption of judges which they had had since communist era and which had not been reformed for the past almost 30 years since end of communism in Poland. People have been dissatisfied of justice system in Poland and that was one of the promise of now ruling party that they will fix justice system and make it disjoint from political influence. Those protes were organized by opposition parties benefiting from status quo and afraid of losing it. Please seek objective information about reasons to those and other reforms put in bad light by opposition.
Best.
Marek
Can you provide some links for what really happened there? It turns out that researching past protests is super-hard. Most links one can find are already non-functional etc. What I've written was based on the Reuters article from back then: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-protest/huge-anti-government-protest-fills-warsaws-ceremonial-boulevard-idUSKCN0XY0EY
Also, I've asked a Polish person for fact-checking.
Re: Marek's comment above.
Martin, Polish society is sharply dived on several topics such as (but not limited to): judicary, abortion, woman rights, influency of Catholic Church on politics. Marek's words about "impunity and corruption of judges which they had had since communist era" are nothing more but his personal opinion on this subject; you may agree or disagree but these are not facts.
Unfortunately what he says about orginizers of the protests ("Those protes were organized by opposition parties benefiting from status quo and afraid of losing it") is an outright lie - it has been a grassroot movement.
It is woth mentioning that another round of protests against government policy was just taking place last evening: www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43514965
Maciej.
Thanks, I am aware of Czarny Piątek protests. I am trying to follow what's going on in central Europe, but you'd be surprised how hard it is. Maybe that's something to think about: The message is often not readily understandable outside of the country. Also, it decays quickly. Trying to find out what happened two years ago sucks in a big way.
Couldn't agree more! Together we're strong!
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