14 Facts About Marian Kotleba

Marian Kotleba served as the governor of Banska Bystrica Region from 2013 to 2017.

Marian Kotleba was a presidential candidate in the 2019 election, in which he finished fourth.

Marian Kotleba has promoted the Zionist Occupation Government conspiracy theory and described Jews as "devils in human skin".

Marian Kotleba has had a negative reception from the Slovak and foreign media due to his political views.

Marian Kotleba is known for his sympathy towards Russia and the ousted Assad regime of Syria, having slogans during his presidential campaign in 2019 such as "For Slavic unity, against war with Russia" and declaring on national television that "Bashar al-Assad is a hero of the Middle-East".

Marian Kotleba made trips to Syria, having met with its speaker of parliament and foreign minister.

Marian Kotleba spoke critically of American intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Libya, and Syria, once reading all of United States involvement in regime change in the Slovak Parliament.

In 2003, Marian Kotleba founded the far-right political party Slovak Togetherness.

Marian Kotleba's win was described as a "shock" by political analysts, who attributed it to deep anti-Romani sentiments in the region.

Observers originally had said that they saw almost no chance for Marian Kotleba to succeed in the second round against Manka, but nonetheless found his strong showing "disturbing".

Marian Kotleba was defeated in the Slovak regional elections of 2017 by an independent candidate, Jan Lunter.

On 5 April 2022, Marian Kotleba automatically lost his mandate of MP in the National Council as a consequence of being found guilty of demonstrating sympathy for a movement directed at suppression of fundamental rights and freedoms by the Supreme Court.

Marian Kotleba was sentenced to four years and four months in a lowest-security prison.

Marian Kotleba received a suspended sentence of 6 months in prison.