Slovak Police charge politician with extremism

News server Plus JEDEN DEŇ reported on 28 July that police in Slovakia have charged Marian Kotleba, the head of the ultra-right party "Kotleba-People's Party Our Slovakia" (LSNS), with extremism. In March he gave a socially vulnerable family a check for EUR 1 488, which is a number with a neo-Nazi code meaning.

The number "14", in this interpretation, represents the "14 words" ("We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children") of the late American right-wing extremist David Lane, who was sentenced to 190 years in federal prison in 1985 for multiple crimes, including acting as the getaway driver for the assassins of a Jewish talk show host in 1984. As for the double 8s, they are a reference to the Nazi greeting "Heil Hitler", as the letter "H" is the eighth in the (English) alphabet.

The number "1488", therefore, is used as a symbol of the racist movement advocating for "White Supremacy". If convicted, Kotleba, who is currently the Governor of the Banská Bystrica Region, faces imprisonment of anywhere between six months to three years.

Police say Kotleba abused an act of charity to demonstrate his sympathy for a movement that has espoused ethnic, national, racial and religious hatred, Plus JEDEN DEŇ reported. Kotleba is now the third member of LSNS to be charged with extremism.

The party has not confirmed the charges. "Marian Kotleba has not yet been delivered anything," LSNS Vice-Chair Milan Uhrík told news server HNonline.