Milan Mazurek

Milan Mazurek (born 24 January 1994) is a far-right Slovak politician who serves 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, Mazurek was re-elected in the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election.

Early life and education

Mazurek attended Private High School in Poprad, majoring in Law and Business. According to his former classmate, he smiled during a visit to Auschwitz concentration camp, and stated that the Jews invented the Holocaust.

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. He was investigated by prosecutors for other posts denying the Holocaust, which is a crime in Slovakia.

In an October 2016 speech on , 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".

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. He paid the fine, making him eligible to run in the 2020 election.

Following the Supreme Court's verdict, former prime minister Robert Fico recorded a Facebook video in which he stated: "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." ĽSNS put up many billboards stating "Milan Mazurek, fired from parliament for expressing an opinion".

As a result of his conviction, Mazurek lost his seat in parliament in September 2019 due to the Constitution of Slovakia, becoming the first Slovak MP to lose his seat due to a crime. He was eligible for two-month severance pay and immediately hired as a parliamentary secretary for People's Party Our Slovakia, earning 2,700 euros per month. After losing his seat in parliament, Mazurek was replaced by Milan Špánik, an independent regional politician who won his seat with Kotleba's support.

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. Mazurek was re-elected in the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election. He was nominated for "Homophobe of the Year" in 2020 by and Rainbow Slovakia for denying the existence of transgender people.

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazurek, Milan
1994 births
Living people
Antiziganism in Slovakia
Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2016–2020
Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2020–2023
MEPs for Slovakia 2024–2029
People's Party Our Slovakia politicians
People from Kežmarok District
People convicted of racial hatred offences
People convicted of speech crimes
Slovak criminals
Slovak neo-Nazis
Holocaust deniers