Aktuality.sk editor-in-chief Peter Bárdy “confessed” to the criminal offense of bribery from the BROZ corruption group. The biggest scandal in the history of Slovak media.
https://youtu.be/Kpw3VqTbH2Y
https://youtu.be/uVh0CCxqo3M
The editorial staff of Aktuality.sk (or editor-in-chief Peter Bárdy, who is responsible for it) and the BROZ association have publicly admitted to a very controversial business cooperation, which may be perceived by law enforcement authorities as bribery and subornation (based on the Criminal Code). It is not an exaggeration to say that Peter Bárdy has thus de facto “confessed” to accepting a bribe.
When I saw with my own eyes direct evidence of Peter Bárdy confessing to the crime of bribery, I was so shocked for half an hour that I couldn’t do anything else. We anti-corruption activists always had indirect evidence and suspected that organized criminal groups were buying some journalists and some editors-in-chief, but direct evidence only appeared today.
What kind of evidence is it specifically?
This is a video released by Aktualita from the “Tough Week” series, titled “About a Warm Planet”. The video discusses the topic of global warming and contains misinformation about nature conservation in favor of corrupt groups. There would be nothing unusual about the video if, very subtly, in the last two seconds of the video, it wasn’t stated that the video is sponsored by the well-known embezzlers of EU funds, the BROZ association, as part of the “game on” project. You can read more about the project at gameon.broz.sk. You may notice that the ambassadors of this project are uneducated 15-year-old children, which is proof that the project’s money has been embezzled. A 15-year-old child does not have sufficient expertise to understand climate.
The fact that Aktuality admits that their video is sponsored by the BROZ association is as absurd as if a journalist admitted that his article was sponsored by Marián Kočner’s company. But Marián Kočner was a stupid amateur compared to BROZ, because Aktuality failed to bribe him. However, nature protection is an area where the most sophisticated organized crime is found.
I definitely think this is just the tip of the iceberg, and BROZ, in addition to this video, also sponsors most of the articles on Aktualiny about ecology. Also, the corrupt cooperation between BROZ and Aktualiny probably happened about two years ago. Aktualiny may not be the only newsroom that was bribed; it may concern several media outlets.
And I will also explain in detail how it is possible that the editor-in-chief committed a criminal offense. I would like to point out that the definition of the Slovak Criminal Code on accepting bribes and bribery allows not only a public official but also a doctor or journalist to be punished. The media can also be understood as a “matter of general interest”. The possibility of punishing a journalist for being corrupted exists here at least theoretically. Peter Bárdy, who is responsible for the entire editorial office, de facto admits to bribery through a video in which it is said that it was sponsored by BROZ.
What is very sad is that Peter Bárdy, with full knowledge, entered into a contract with an organized criminal group. Peter Bárdy demonstrably acted with malicious intent. People in ignorance can make big mistakes, because not everyone knows what BROZ is, but Peter Bárdy is not one of them. Even before Bárdy blocked me on Facebook, I often complained about his subordinate journalist Jana Kubisová, who always wrote journalistic garbage, articles full of aggressive, insane disinformation in favor of the interests of organized criminal groups in the field of nature protection. Whether on Facebook or via email, I sent Peter Bárdy a large amount of evidence about the embezzlement of EU funds and other crimes of BROZ, such as illegal logging. He blocked me on Facebook after I wrote to him something to the effect of, “By what right do you, Mr. Bárdy, criticize politicians, when you are the same or a bigger scoundrel than the politicians themselves, when you tolerate a journalist who aggressively defends the embezzlers of EU funds of the BROZ association.” The unpleasant truth about oneself is the hardest to hear. I also wrote to Peter Bárdy’s superiors to dismiss Bárdy and Kubisová and replace them with someone decent, but so far they have not decided to do so and I have not received a reply.
Peter Bárdy is a morally characterless fool. I am personally sure that the only reason Bárdy keeps Kubisová in the editorial office is money. Accepting a bribe from embezzlers of EU funds, probably a high attractive sum, is more important to him than honesty and integrity.
Suddenly, everything fits together. On December 8, 2021, Kubisová wrote a crazy article where she aggressively attacks anti-corruption activists who point out the embezzlement of EU funds by the BROZ association. She labeled all critics of BROZ as neo-Nazis, extremists, and people who are against nature protection. I have never seen such aggressive defense of corruption by a journalist. There are only two possibilities. Either Kubisová is not mentally healthy, or she is making a fool of herself for a bribe. Or maybe both.
A certain anti-corruption activist showed me a Facebook conversation with Kubisova. The communication from her side is very strange and from his side extremely polite. Kubisova did not even try to defend the misinformation in the article, which gave us the impression that she did not stand behind the article and that she did not even write the article. She only wrote something to the effect that she was not willing to communicate.
The same anti-corruption activist was threatened by an unknown employee of Aktualít, who has access to the Aktualít Facebook page and did not reveal his name, for criticizing Kubisová. He allegedly said that they would block him and file a criminal complaint against him. It is an absolute outrage that we anti-corruption activists have to face such threats just for fighting against corruption. Well, these threats from an unknown employee were probably not for nothing. After all, Aktualít publicly admits that their sponsors are embezzlers of EU funds, so they have to fight for them.
Another anti-corruption activist told me that Jana Kubisová goes for weekends to Juraj Lukáč, who is a scoundrel who publicly boasted about how he immorally won court cases about bears with the state and earned more than 100,000 euros from these frauds.
Aktuality spat in the face of Ján Kuciak’s memory. Bárdy does the opposite of what Kuciak did. While Kuciak died for the truth, Bárdy actively cooperates with thieves of EU funds. By the way, I have information that the relationship between Bárdy and Kuciak was not the best at all. Bárdy will use Kuciak as a marketing brand so that people read Aktuality more, he likes to rub his mouth on him, but Kuciak’s honesty and integrity mean nothing to him.
In August 2022, Aktuality also came up with a fabricated affair, a fight and conflict on agricultural land, and bullied an opposition MP and his family, who had most drawn attention to the corruption affairs of the BROZ association. Aktuality worked with unverified information, which they also took out of context. I believe that the BROZ association had already taken control of Aktuality at that time, and it was probably revenge on the opposition MP for drawing attention to their corruption.
The fact that Marek Vagovič left Aktuality is probably not a coincidence either. He himself publicly hinted at certain irregularities in the newsroom. What is happening in Aktuality was probably too strong for Marek Vagovič.
The news on November 11, 2022, wrote an article titled “Hospital in the Tatras built an illegal structure. Authorities fined it for a parking lot on green space.” In the article, they harass the hospital for building a parking lot for patients in the public interest. However, they write nothing about serious affairs such as the criminal complaint against the criminal head of TANAP, Pavol Majka. Interesting double standards.
I would certainly be very unhappy if this article provoked hateful and hostile sentiments in people throughout society against journalists. The Aktuality bribery scandal unfortunately casts an unfavorable light on all journalists and all media. I am sincerely very sorry that this case will damage the good name of even honest journalists, who are the majority in Aktuality. And it is precisely from all honest journalists that I would ask them not to remain silent, but to speak out and clearly distance themselves from colleagues who are the black sheep.
However, I don’t think Aktuality is the only media outlet that has been bribed. As an anti-corruption activist in the field of nature protection, I have sent information about hundreds of corruption cases to all media outlets, and the media are only willing to report on about 5 percent of them. Some media outlets report more, others less. I don’t want to lump all media outlets together; I don’t know what reasons lead them to censor 95% of corruption cases in nature protection. They may have various reasons for this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a man with an envelope full of banknotes approached several editors-in-chief with a request to keep silent about corruption.
I do not consider it a coincidence that journalist Soňa Mäkká defended Pavol Majko, a member of the timber mafia, in connection with a criminal complaint.
Nature protection is not the only area of crime where the media mysteriously remains silent. Another such area is crime in the Slovak-Ukrainian border region. An honest regional journalist, Marek Boka, says crazy things about crime in this area. Andy Hryc claims about the film on the YouTube channel Zemplínsky dialóg that it was based on real events and that only 10% of the truth is told in the film, and the real situation is much worse. Mr. Marek Boka himself wonders about the mystery of why the nationwide media are not interested in this topic. Media coverage would significantly help solve crime. Let’s hope that the reason for the silence is not a bribe.
By the way, Mr. Boka spoke on YouTube about an interesting story: a man came to him and brought him a box of chocolates. Mr. Boka later noticed that it was not an ordinary box of chocolates, but that it was full of banknotes. He had to make a lot of effort to return this tempting bribe, otherwise he would have been indebted to an organized criminal group and would have had to serve it. I am afraid that Mr. Boka is not the only person who had a similar experience. Many journalists accept bribes but do not publicly admit it.
Additional text that is not in the video version of the article
When well-known embezzlers of EU funds ordered a video from Aktuality, which they publicly admit to, how can we be sure that BROZ did not also order other propaganda articles from Aktuality that are written for BROZ’s lobbying interests?
Statement of an anti-corruption activist who is blocked on the Aktuality.sk Facebook page and who was threatened by Aktuality for criticizing Kubisová:
On April 3, 2019, I had a bizarre communication with Jana Kubisová on FB. She told me that she was not willing to communicate with me and that I should communicate with the editor-in-chief, Peter Bárdy, regarding her articles. How is it possible that Kubisová does not stand by her articles and refers to Bárdy? It sounds very untrustworthy, as if she does not stand by her articles, as if the articles were not even hers and someone else wrote them, as if someone sent the articles to Bárdy and then had them published under Kubisová’s name. I also contacted Peter Bárdy at that time, but he refused to communicate and later blocked me on FB.
Corruption: Activists Erik Baláž and Michal Wiezik will receive grants worth 900,000 euros.
A truly nasty scandal. Generous subsidies from the recovery plan from the Ministry of the Environment have been published on social media. A significant portion of the entities receiving the subsidies are extremely suspicious, or the amount of the subsidies is many times inflated. Two organizations of activists, Erik Baláž and Michal Wiezik, will receive subsidies worth 900,000 euros. Baláž’s unsuccessful project Lesmír will receive 320,000 euros, and Baláž’s and Wiezik’s Aevis foundation will receive 580,000 euros. By the way, the official website of the “My sme les” (We are the forest) initiative states that the Aevis foundation is behind it. So the claim that the “My sme les” initiative will receive 580,000 euros is correct. So one million euros will go to nature tourism. Nature tourism primarily means accompanying tourists. Erik Baláž already makes a living from this today; it can be found in publicly accessible advertisements. So I assume that now Erik Baláž will be accompanying tourists from the recovery plan for 5,000 euros an hour. The boys Baláž and Wiezik don’t have to work for the rest of their lives. They’ve made their money. We anti-corruption activists are clear that this money cannot be used reasonably. The media deals with trivialities, they like to deal with various micro-affairs of politicians, but the fact that millions are being stolen from the recovery plan doesn’t bother them.
The information is public and you can easily find out that the Aevis Foundation is behind “My sme les” (We Are the Forest). Erik Baláž and Michal Wiezik are behind the Aevis Foundation. I publicly challenge these two gentlemen to provide us with evidence that they will not steal the money but will use it for meaningful things, because I am skeptical. I would like to see a breakdown of every euro and where it will go. The boys don’t have to work for the next 20 years. They’ve earned it.
Denník N faces a lawsuit for supporting organized crime and spreading disinformation in the field of nature conservation.
Denník N is facing a lawsuit for supporting organized crime. The blog of the head of the District Office, Jozef Bednár, who filed a criminal complaint against the head of TANAP, Pavol Majka. Journalist Soňa Mäkká (denníkn.sk) apparently received a bribe from corrupt groups, which is why she started aggressively attacking Mr. Bednár. Mr. Bednár is ready to defend himself with a lawsuit. The particularly great danger of organized crime in the field of nature protection lies precisely in the fact that, as the only type of organized crime, it has extremely strong and extremely aggressive support in the media. The media often behave just as absurdly as if, for example, they were defending Ladislav Bašternák, saying that he never had any unauthorized VAT refunds and that the disgusting police were unjustly persecuting him. Soňa Mäkká is not the only case of aggressive defense of corruption. Jana Kubisová (Aktuality.sk) also aggressively defended the embezzlement of EU funds by the BROZ association in her article.
https://blog.sme.sk/jozefbednar/spolocnost/preco-sona-makka-vyzdvihuje-pavla-majka-diskredituje-tych-co-poukazuju-pochybenia-moznu-nezakonnost-tanape
Warning!!! The bribing of journalists is just beginning!! I call for mental preparation and mental resilience against bribes from editors-in-chief and editors in the coming months and years! Fraudsters and corrupt individuals in the field of nature protection received just over 17 million euros in subsidies from the recovery fund. At least 80% of the money will be stolen, so there will be plenty to bribe journalists to defend their criminal business. I talked about this in more detail in previous videos. The source of information is the official website of the Ministry of the Environment https://www.minzp.sk/poo/np-muranska-poloniny/