On 20 November, the Bratislavan County Court sentenced Mario Bango to 12 years in prison without parole for attempted murder. Allegedly, he committed this crime on 10 March, 2001, when he injured Branislav Slamka with a knife on the bus. Mario, who is a young Roma, an anti-fascist activist and a member of the League for the Fifth International, was defending his brother Eduard from Slamka's racially motivated attack.

The element of self-defence was completely ignored by the court. The defence lawyer was unable to find a witness who dared to state publicly what anti-fascists have known for a long time - that Slamka was a member of the "National Socialists" and had previously participated in neo-nazi attacks.

The court explained the verdict with the argument that "Slamka was perfectly healthy when he got on the bus". This ignores the fact that no relationship could be established between the knife wounds caused by Mario and the head injury that led to Slamka's death. Nor could Mario's intention to kill Slamka be established. Yet this tough sentence was meted out to Mario, who has no criminal record.

As the sentence was pronounced, Eduard Bango and his mother sang the Internationale.

This sentence clearly expresses the racist, political prejudice of the court. Slamka's defence was conducted by Robert Fico, chairman of the populist party, SMER. The Slovakian parliament even held a minute's silence for the Slamka on a motion of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) member, Kalman.

The sentence of the County Court contrasts sharply with the indifference of the Slovakian police and judiciary when dealing with neo-Nazi attacks or other racist crimes, as when Karol Sendrei from Magnezitoviece was murdered by the mayor and his son, a police officer.

The defence immediately appealed the case, which will continue before the Supreme Court. However, the behaviour of the district and county courts, as well as the participation of the highly popular Fico, leave little hope of a fair trial.

The international campaign to free Mario Bango is now more important than ever. Mario has already received support from many activists from cultural, trade union, political, human rights, and anti-racist organisations. The scandalous, racist sentence of the court in Bratislava must be made known.

Write to Mario at:
Mário Bango, nar. 8. 6. 1982
Ústav na vy´kon väzby
priecinok 1077
Chorvatská 5
812 29 Bratislava
Slovensko/Slovakia

MORE INFORMATION, AND DETAILS OF HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT MARIO'S CASE, CAN BE FOUND AT:
http://www.worldrevolution.org.uk/pages/campaigns/mariointro.html