The Slovak Bar Association has demanded an apology for a political cartoon depicting them as pigs, saying it is defamatory and dangerous.

The cartoon shows a newly qualified lawyer receiving his diploma from another lawyer, both depicted as pigs, with the message “You’ve become a doctor of law. There is no better profession for looting/plundering of this country.”

“The Chamber does not want to interfere with the right to freely express your opinions in public and even in the form of cartoons, however, that freedom of expression must not unreasonably interfere with the rights of others or belittle them,” the Slovak Bar Association said in a statement.

They argue that the cartoon is dangerous speech, which defames a group of people based on their education.

The cartoon was by Slovakia’s most popular political cartoonist Shooty, whose real name is Martin Sutovec. It was published in Sme, one of the country’s biggest daily newspapers.

While freedom of the press is guaranteed by the constitution, this is not the first time the media freedom has come under threat.

In 2010, Shooty won a lawsuit filed against him by then Prime Minister Robert Fico, over a cartoon of a doctor telling him his back pain was non-existent as he was spineless.

In March this year, a verdict ordering Sme to publish three apologies or be fined €150,000 was upheld. This stemmed from an article about a member Slovakia’s Council of Judges, who was given a free hunting trip, which would constitute an illegal gift.