Milan Mazurek

Milan Mazurek (born 24 January 1994)^[1] is a Slovak MP for the Republic party (formerly People's Party Our Slovakia). In 2019, he was convicted of defamation of race based on his anti-Romani statements, and became the first Slovak parliamentarian to lose his seat because of a crime. However, he was reelected in the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election.

Early life

According to a former classmate of his, Mazurek smiled during a visit to Auschwitz concentration camp, and stated that the Jews invented the Holocaust.^[2]

Political career

First term in parliament

Mazurek worked as the deputy to Kotleba MP Andrej Medvecký, and took over his mandate after Medvecký's subsequent resignation (a week after the 2016 Slovak parliamentary election) for having been charged with a racist assault of a Dominican citizen. At this time Mazurek attracted media attention for shouting vulgar insults at an Arab family at an anti-Islam rally and for praising Adolf Hitler on social media.^[3][4] He was investigated by prosecutors for other posts denying the Holocaust, which is a crime in Slovakia.^[4]

In an October 2016 speech on Rádio Frontinus [sk], Mazurek said "The Gypsy anti-socials have never done anything for the nation and never will," comparing children of Romani ethnicity to "animals in the zoo".^[5][6]

Conviction and removal from office

In 2018, the Specialised Criminal Court convicted him under Article § 423 of the Penal Code, which prohibits "defamation of the nation, race, and belief", and fined him 5,000 euros. Mazurek appealed to the Supreme Court of Slovakia, which ruled on the case in September 2019 and upheld the sentence, increasing the fine to 10,000 euros.^[6] He paid the fine, making him eligible to run in the 2020 election.^[7]

Following the Supreme Court's verdict, former prime minister Robert Fico recorded a Facebook video in which he said, "Milan Mazurek said what almost the whole nation thinks and if you execute someone for truth, you make him a national hero". Fico is now being investigated for promoting racism.^[8][5] ĽSNS put up many billboards stating "Milan Mazurek, fired from parliament for expressing an opinion".^[8]

As a result of his conviction, Mazurek lost his seat in parliament in September 2019 due to the Constitution of Slovakia,^[9] becoming the first Slovak MP to lose his seat due to a crime.^[6] He was eligible for two months' severance pay and was immediately hired as a parliamentary secretary for ĽSNS, earning 2,700 euros per month.^[7] After he lost his seat in parliament he was replaced by Milan Špánik, who is an independent regional politician who won his seat with Kotleba support.^[6]

Re-election

In February 2020, Mazurek was involved in an incident where counter-protestors against a ĽSNS meeting in Nižná na Orave were physically attacked.^[10] Mazurek was re-elected in the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election.^[11] He was nominated for "Homophobe of the Year" in 2020 by Institute of Human Rights [sk] and Rainbow Slovakia for denying the existence of transgender people.^[12]

He refuses to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a false belief that it would cause carbon dioxide poisoning,^[13] which led to his being thrown out of a bank in Poprad.^[14] In July 2020, he faced calls for his resignation after falsely claiming that the perpetrator of the Vrútky school attack [sk] was of Romani ethnicity.^[15]

References

1. "Poslanci : Zoznam poslancov : Milan Mazurek - Národná rada Slovenskej republiky". www.nrsr.sk.
2. Benko, Jakub (21 February 2020). "Mazurek ma inšpiroval. Prešlo ma to v Osvienčime (odomykáme)". komentare.sme.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 29 August 2020.
3. "Kotlebov poslanec: O Tretej ríši vieme rozprávky o mydlách zo Židov". TERAZ.sk. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
4. "Velebil Hitlera, popieral holokaust, dnes sa stal poslancom". Aktuality.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 5 September 2020.
5. "Police charge Slovak ex-prime minister Fico with supporting racism". euronews. Reuters. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
6. "Far-right MP Mazurek found guilty. He will lose his seat". The Slovak Spectator. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
7. Šimíčková, Jana (29 November 2019). "Odsúdený Kotlebovec môže byť opäť poslancom, Milan Mazurek zaplatil mastnú pokutu". plus7dni.pluska.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 29 August 2020.
8. Sirotnikova, Miroslava German (3 January 2020). "Anti-Roma Rhetoric Under Scrutiny Before Slovak Election". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
9. "Slovak MP insulted Romani people and spread xenophobia, loses his seat after being convicted of felony defamation". romea.cz. ČTK. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
10. Osvaldová, Lucia (14 February 2020). "Mazurek na nás zahučal a potom do nás vrazil ako tank, opisujú svedkovia koniec mítingu ĽSNS na Orave". Denník N (in Slovak). Retrieved 29 August 2020.
11. Yacoob, Tarek (2 June 2020). "Čísla odsúdeného rasistu Mazureka nesedia". Denník N (in Slovak). Retrieved 29 August 2020.
12. "Kto získa anti-cenu Homofób roka? Medzi nominovanými sú aj Mazurek, Záborská a Korda". Webnoviny.sk. 17 May 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
13. Horák, Otakar (30 July 2020). "Rúška podľa Mazureka s Kotlebom ničia zdravie a otravujeme sa CO2. Proti sú lekári, vedci aj WHO". Denník N (in Slovak). Retrieved 29 August 2020.
14. Krajčirová, Aleksandra (28 July 2020). "Mazureka vyhodili z banky, lebo nemal rúško: Nebudem si ničiť zdravie tou hnusnou handrou". Noizz.azet.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 29 August 2020.
15. "Mazurek by mal mandátovému výboru vysvetľovať status o tragédii vo Vrútkach". SME (in Slovak). TASR. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.