The Bratislava Regional Court annulled the urgent measure that ordered the influencer Filip Sulík to remove two defamatory videos directed against Denník N reporter Vladimír Šnídl.
He informed about it Diary of N.
At the same time, in January 2026, the Bratislava IV City Court of First Instance granted the proposal of the publishing house N Press and ordered Sulík to delete the posts.
The reason was repeated vulgar attacks on the journalist, his physical appearance, family, as well as questioning his lecturing activities on disinformation in schools.
Filip Sulík removed the videos from the YouTube platform, but appealed against the decision. The currently valid decision of the Appeals Chamber allows him to redistribute this content.
Lindtner: Satire and stand up
The regional court came to the opposite conclusion to the first-instance court, which characterized Sulík’s actions as inadmissible personal attacks without a legitimate goal.
Although the appeals panel listed the derogatory statements in the resolution, it did not evaluate the intensity of the interference with the personal rights of the journalist as critical.
The court argues that it did not find an immediate threat of harm and that banning the videos would be an unreasonable interference with Sulík’s freedom of expression.
According to the senate, the journalist is a person of public interest who must withstand a higher level of criticism, while it was not proven that the videos would worsen his position at work or in society.
Sulík is represented in the dispute by advisor to the Prime Minister David Lindtner from the KALLAN Legal law firm, which is also owned by the Minister of Defense Robert Kaliňák.
In court, Lindtner defended Sulík’s statements, including animal comparisons, as legitimate tools of satire and stand-up comedy.
At the same time, Lindtner described Šnídl’s work in schools as “harmful indoctrination” and Denník N as “a tool of progressive propaganda”.
Resignation to protect honor
The publishing house N Press expressed its regret over the verdict and announces the continuation of the dispute at the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court.
The director of the publishing house, Lukáš Fila, emphasized that attacks on a journalist’s family have no place in decent society.
Denník N’s legal representative Ľubomír Zlocha from the inLegal office responded that the court effectively resigned to protect civil honor and family life against targeted internet defamation.
He blames the court for not dealing with the journalist’s false accusation of sexual predation against minors, while, according to him, a knowing lie does not enjoy constitutional protection.
According to Zloch, the court also ignored the commercial dimension of speech motivated by profit from advertising and formally refused to protect family members who were not a direct party to the dispute. According to him, the decision has a deterrent effect on the entire journalist community and may lead to self-censorship.
Connections to Smer and Bombica
The thirty-year-old son of the former chairman SaS Richard Sulík he has been facing criminal charges for slander for a long time, and most recently he is also being prosecuted for bodily harm after a fight in a Bratislava business.
He regularly attacks famous personalities on social networks. In the past, for example, he publicly incited the rape of an influencer.
In the last period, Sulík junior presents himself with close ties to the young generation of party politicians Directionas they are Erik Kaliňák or Richard Glück and indicates political ambitions.
He also maintains a close relationship with Daniel Bombica, an extremist who has been wrongfully convicted, who is also represented by David Lindtner. Sulík stated in the past that Bombica’s case is a precedent for him in the area of absolute freedom of speech.
