The trial against Mario Bango - a young anti-fascist Roma in Slovakia finally started on Wednesday 20 February at the Bratislava district court.
This first trial - nearly a year after he had been jailed for defending his brother successfully against a Nazi attack (the Nazi died a few weeks later because of a mistake by the doctors as the official investigation found out) - was a farce. The judge Igor Skultty did not even attempt to hide his already formed opinion - that Mario is guilty of attempted murder.
The day before the trial started he gave an interview to the press in which he actually said that Mario is guilty of attempted murder. This is in flat contradiction to the most elementary norms of bourgeois justice. Already some weeks ago another judge decided that Mario should be tried for "attempted murder" despite the results of an official report which recommended that Mario be charged "only" with causing grievous bodily harm and not manslaughter or attempted murder!
The opening of the trial was symbolic of what was to come. After introductory words and a short statement by the prosecutor the judge asked a man sitting in the first row of the audience to speak. This man turned out to be Robert Fico, leader of "Smer" - a right-wing populist party ranking high in recent opinion polls! Fico now represents the financial claims of the family of Branislav Slamka, the dead skinhead.
According to the Slovak anti-racist organisation "People against Racism" Slamka is a member of an informal circle which called themselves "National Socialists" and took part in a number of racist attacks and attacks on left-wing youth.
The judge repeatedly interrupted the statement of Dr. Jakubcik, Mario's lawyer. At one point he even ordered him sit down during his speech! At another point when Jakubcik mentioned the background of repeated racist attacks against Roma, he lectured him "not to mix the case with politics".
What an irony after seeing the intervention of one of the leading racist politicians in the country only an hour before in the same room! The whole trial was a typical example of a reactionary provincial judge who loves to play the absolute ruler in his small kingdom. (He even instructed Mario in which direction he must look when he speaks!)
The only positive thing to say about this court is that is has no formal power. The trial ended the same day with the predictable result: a preliminary sentence that the next higher court should charge Mario for attempted murder.
We - activists in solidarity with the defence of Mario Bango - have repeatedly warned that the Mario will not face a fair trial in Slovakia. Last year the MPs in the Slovak parliament held a minutes silence for Slamka and he was called a "model student and citizen". Right-wing politicians and media are waging a racist campaign against Mario. There is thus little surprise that this court was a pure farce.
Naturally Mario's lawyer will do his best to counter the judges decisions through legal channels. But in the end the only chance for Mario is a massive campaign of solidarity -both within Slovakia and internationally. One positive sign in Slovakia is a front page article in the Slovak daily "Narodna Obrada" which reported Mario's case in a and objective way and even published an interview with his brother Edo.
It is necessary to increase the pressure internationally and send letters of protest to the Slovak authorities. In the past weeks a number of actions both in Western and Eastern Europe were organised. This campaign has to continue because Mario is threatened with a long jail sentence. The recent suspension of the death penalty for Mumia Abu-Jamal - who has expressed his support for Mario - shows the potential of solidarity campaigns.
What can you do?
ð Send protest e-mails, letters, faxes or phone calls to the Slovak embassy in your country and to the president of the Slovak Republic. (see below for details)
ð Organise a protest action at the Slovak embassy in your country on the next International Day of Solidarity with Mario
ð Get Mario's case into media, bring it to the attention of journalists, human rights organisations members of parliament etc.
ð Send this e-mail on to all anti-racists and anti-fascists and call on them to act.
You can either compose your own letter or email or if you wish cut and paste the following protest declarations to the various Slovak authorities below:
Concerning: Mario Bango, born 8th June 1982, now in detention in Ustav na vykon vazby, priecinok 1077, Chorvatska 5, 812 29 Bratislava.
"Dear Mr. President (Minister/Ambassador),
I am writing to inform you that the facts of the Mario Bango case are now being communicated to hundreds of human rights, antiracist and labour organisations worldwide.
I must strongly protest against the treatment of Mario Bango at the trial on 20th February. The behaviour of the judge Igor Skultty both before and during the trial made clear that Mario will not get a fair hearing.
Mario Bango, who is a Slovak citizen of Roma nationality, was detained on 10. 3. 2001 after he defended his brother against a racist attack. He seriously injured the attacker in the process. Then he himself called the police. The attacker died in hospital two weeks later as a result of mistakes made by those responsible for his medical care.
Mario's act was one of defending his brother against racist attack. He and his brother had already been subject to several such attacks, after one of which his brother had been hospitalised for two weeks. You cannot be unaware that attacks on Roma citizens in your country have been widely reported in the world media.
I am also outraged by reports of how the Slovak media presented the case. TV Markiza - without any evidence whatsoever - claimed that the Bango brothers were stealing from fellow travellers before they were attacked. Member of Parliament Kalman for the HZDS party used the death of a racist attacker to propose a minute of silence in parliament. Such acts are clearly prejudicial to Mario receiving a fair trail.
I also protest that the charge Mario Bango is facing now could send to jail for many years for what was basically an act of justified defence. I appeal to you to use your authority to intervene and remedy the situation. All charges against Mario must be dropped and he must be released immediately.
Yours sincerely,
Addresses of Slovak Authorities
Slovak president Rudolf Schuster
via the Internet:
http://www.prezident.sk/virtualna_posta/
podmenu/down.html
Insert your name (Meno) and the appeal, then click the ãOdosliä (Send) button.
Or send it as a letter to:
Kancelaria Prezidenta
Stefanikova 14,
814 38 Bratislava
Slovakia
Or phone: +421-7-5441-6624
Ministry of Justice
Ministerstvo spravodlivosti SR
Zupne namestie 13
813 11 Bratislava
Phone: +421-7-5935-3497
Fax: +421-7-5443-0467
e-mail: tlacove@justice.gov.sk
The address of the Slovak government is:
Urad Vlady SR (Bureau of the Slovak government)
Namestie Slobody 1
813 70 Bratislava,
Slowakische Republik
Phone: +421-7-5729-5111
Fax: +421-7-5249-7595
e-mail: urad@government.gov.sk
We urge all supporters of the Mario Bango campaign not to stop sending donations. Marioâs family is a poor working class family and naturally cannot afford to pay all his legal expenses. We still need money since a long defence campaign is ahead of us!
We therefore appeal to everyone who sympathises with Mario to send a donation to keep his legal defence running.
Send donations to the
Mario solidarity fund in Austria
Vienna
Bank Austria.
Bank account: 502-009932/00
Bank code: 12000
Please continue to send postcards to Mario with a few words of solidarity (Mario is now learning English so if you canât write either in Slovak or in Czech send him a short letter in English).
Send to:
M‡rio Bango, nar. 8. 6. 1982
òstav na vy«kon vŠzby
priecinok 1077
Chorvatsk‡ 5
812 29 Bratislava
Slovensko/Slovakia
More information: michael.proebsting@utanet.at
Phone: +43-1-676-4068314
http://people.freenet.de/freemario
http://sweb.cz/free.mario/ (in Czech/Slovak)
In Britain you can email your protests to:
mail@slovakembassy.co.uk
or address letters to:
The Ambassador
Embassy of the Slovak Republic
25 Kensington Palace Gardens
London W8 4QY
Or phone to express your concern
Telephone number 020 7243 0803