Court Throws Out Ban for Blaha to Post About ESET Influencing Election

Bratislava, May 18 (TASR) - Opposition MP Lubos Blaha (Smer-SD) won't be required to delete his Facebook posts concerning the alleged influencing of the 2020 parliamentary election by Slovak Eset IT security company, as the Bratislava Regional Court overruled the injunction imposed by a lower court, TASR learnt from Blaha's social network post as well as from company PR manager Peter Blazecka on Tuesday. "The appellate court decided that interfering with my freedom of speech is undue also because it maims the democratic process, seeing as I represent my voters as a politician," claimed Blaha. He noted that he's now allowed to re-post his statement a year from the election, even though it's no longer current. ESET pointed out that the decision by the Regional Court concerns only the injunction itself and not the merit of the lawsuit. "The court hasn't ruled that the disputed statement of Lubos Blaha about ESET is justified," detailed Blazecka, adding that the court hasn't yet deliberated on the lawsuit. In February 2020, Bratislava District Court I decided that Blaha must delete his posts and refrain from any false statements on the issue. ESET sued Blaha in July 2019 and pursues protection of its good reputation. None None mf/mcs