In 2017, at a high school in Banská Bystrica, Kotleba presented a financial gift to three families in front of almost 400 invited guests by means of symbolic checks. Each was for the amount of 1488 euros (over 40 thousand crowns).
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According to investigators, the numbers 14 and 88 are known and used in extremist symbolism. The number 14 refers to the number of words in the English sentence of the right-wing terrorist David Lane, which translates as “We must ensure the existence of our people and the future of white children.” The eight is then supposed to represent the eighth letter of the alphabet for the abbreviated form of the Nazi salute Heil Hitler.
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The gift was handed over on the anniversary of the fascist Slovak state.
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According to the court, Kotleba committed the promotion of Nazism, an ideology aimed at suppressing rights and freedoms, while doing so publicly.
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I did not break the law, Kotleba defends himself
Kotleba said that the trial did not prove at all that he had committed a crime. “I am disappointed and disappointed in the process. I expected the state to comply with the legality of the process, “said the chairman of LSNS. He described the accusation as fabricated. “Nowhere in the current legislation is it written that by donating any amount of taxable money to your family, you should commit a crime,” Kotleba added.
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According to Judge Ružena Sabová, it was significant that one of the witnesses submitted a donation contract for 1,488 euros as evidence. “It turned out that the donor was not a political party, but the accused Marian Kotleba, in which the court sees a significant questioning of the defense in the fact that it was supposed to be a fundraiser,” Sabová said.
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