Bratislava, Slovakia – The Regional Directorate of the Police Corps in Trenčín, Criminal Police Department, decided that 12 activists from across Europe, who were peacefully protesting coal mining in the Horná Nitra region of Slovakia, committed no crime. [1]

Greenpeace Slovakia Director, Ivana Kohutková, welcomed the prosecution’s decision:

“The decision to uphold the right to peacefully protest against a polluting mining industry was the right one. We are racing against irreversible climate change and acts of courage, like we saw at the mining tower in Nováky, must be heard and not muzzled.”

ENDS

Notes:

For more on the peaceful protest in Horná Nitra read here and here

[1] The resolution by the police investigation said that “On the basis of the investigation carried out, it can be stated that the actions for which the prosecution was conducted, especially in view of its execution, the consequences and the circumstances in which it was committed, were not a crime of general threat under § 20 § 284 par. 1 letter (a) of the Criminal Code, since not all the features of the objective aspect of the crime were fulfilled. However, the conduct of persons (…) can be classified as an offense.” Because this is an offense, the police referred the case to the District Mining Authority in Prievidza.

 

Contacts:

Ivana Kohutková, office director Greenpeace Slovakia, 00421 0905 921 918, [email protected]

Greenpeace International Press Desk, [email protected], phone: +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)

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