Slovaks rally against alleged 'Purges' in Cultural positions

Thousands gathered in Bratislava Tuesday evening to protest changes at top cultural posts administered by the Slovakia's culture minister, a move that sparked outcry among artists and public figures.

Martina Simkovicova has sacked heads of respected cultural institutions, including directors of the Slovak National Theatre and the Slovak National Gallery.

Her decisions prompted accusations from the opposition of ruling by fear and of "purges" orchestrated to muzzle artistic freedom.

The organisers said around 18,000 people protested in the capital's main square despite the simmering heat, many carrying signs reading: "Art is free" and "I don't want a coalition without culture".

"I came here because if we keep our mouths shut now, we may not be able to speak up later," Vladimir Miadok told AFP at the rally.

"Simkovicova must go," the 31-year-old marketer added.

A letter signed by six former Slovak ministers of culture condemning the overhaul was read at the rally called by the opposition parties.

Simkovicova hails from the right-wing nationalist SNS party, a part of the coalition led by the populist four-time Prime Minister Robert Fico.

 'Era of fear'  

In one of her first speeches as culture minister, she said: "The culture of the Slovak people should be Slovak -- Slovak and no other."

"She (Simkovicova) wants to establish an era of fear, reintroduce the Communist era of the 70s," Matej Drlicka, recently sacked Slovak National Theatre director told AFP on Tuesday.

Simkovicova fired Drlicka last week, with her ministry saying in a statement she had "lost her trust" in Drlicka citing his "political activism".

The day after she publicly criticized the dismissal of Drlicka, Slovak National Gallery director Alexandra Kusa was also fired by Simkovicova.

Their removal prompted a public online petition calling for the dismissal of Simkovicova from her position.

In less than a week, some 178,000 people signed the initiative.

In June, Simkovicova tabled a bill to scrap the RTVS public television and radio broadcaster that Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called "a hard blow to media freedom in Slovakia".

Defending the bill in parliament, Simkovicova in June said the "new law improves conditions" for journalists working in public media.

But the law was heavily criticised by both media watchdogs and the opposition as it removed the management of the public media channels and placed the broadcaster under the ministry of culture's control.

Its employees repeatedly protested against the changes but RTVS was scrapped as of July 1.