FEATURE-Slovak journalist rues following Larry Flynt path

By Matt Reynolds and Martin Santa

BRATISLAVA, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Unlike Larry Flynt, Slovak journalist Martin Klein has found defending freedom of speech a ruinous experience.

Nine years after writing an article about a Slovak archbishop that echoed a cartoon in porn mogul Flynt's magazine Hustler, Klein's career is going nowhere.

Charged with defamation, like American Flynt, Klein was fired by Radio Free Europe after his conviction and has failed to hold down a regular job.

But last month he received validation for his controversial stand. Like Flynt, his case went all the way to the highest court -- in Klein's case, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg -- which overturned his conviction on Oct. 31.

"Time proved I was right," Klein, a bearded 59-year-old, told Reuters in an interview.

"I feel like the winner. On the other hand, this case ruined my career and the decision doesn't change that."

The Hollywood film "The People vs. Larry Flynt" shocked this small, mainly Catholic nation when it arrived in 1997, especially its promotional poster of a man posing as though he were on a crucifix atop a woman's bikini-clad crotch.

Archbishop Jan Sokol called for the poster and film to be banned.

Klein, who defected from communist Czechoslovakia in 1985, responded with an essay that argued the archbishop, whose name had appeared on a list of secret police informers under the communists, should not be taken seriously as a moral authority.

Sokol has steadfastly denied any connection to the communist-era police.

In the essay, Klein made a suggestion about the archbishop's private life that borrowed from the Flynt film, in which Hustler satirised U.S. preacher Jerry Falwell.

He used seven vulgar words for sex and questioned why Catholics did not leave a church headed by "such an ogre".

"Looking back, it was a mistake to run Klein's article as a commentary in a respected weekly," said Peter Schutz, then editor-in-chief of Domino efekt, referring to the article's language. "But it had a serious and clear point -- that the public should ignore the archbishop's lectures."

FLYNT, FALWELL AND FALLOUT

Within days, five contributors to Domino efekt boycotted the weekly, saying the article had stained its reputation.

Prosecutors charged Klein with defaming the Catholic faith. He was convicted and fined $500.

The case recalled Flynt's own legal troubles. In the 1980s, Flynt was sued by Falwell, then head of the powerful Christian group Moral Majority, for publishing a fake interview with Falwell which contained allegations about his sex life.

As the film recounted, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Falwell was not entitled to damages over the parody.

Klein was fired from Radio Free Europe, the U.S. government-funded news station, where he made $38,000 a year, then 15 times the average Slovak salary.

He has since worked as a translator and television reporter but has not held a job for longer than 11 months.

Schutz said Klein was a casualty of uncertain times in post-communist Slovakia which has since joined NATO and the European Union.

"A culture war between conservative Catholics and liberals was starting then," he said. "Making fun of a high-ranking Church figure was taboo.

"Journalistic standards were also evolving. I don't think he would be judged as harshly nowadays."

Friends say the defamation case unfairly branded him as a maverick and Slovak media were reluctant to hire him. Detractors say Klein's combative style is to blame for his troubles.

Strasbourg's court awarded Klein 6,000 euros ($7,700) in its ruling that Slovakia had violated his right to free speech.

A Slovak court said on Nov. 15 it needed time to study the ruling before deciding on a related case that could clear Klein's name for good. A decision is expected in 2007.

Larry Flynt commended Klein over his long campaign to have his name cleared.

"We can never take freedom of speech for granted," Flynt told Reuters in a statement issued by his publicist. "I applaud this journalist for fighting to protect it." ((Reporting by Matt Reynolds, editing by Robert Woodward; matthew.reynolds@reuters.com, Reuters messaging: matthew.reynolds.reuters.com@reuters.net, tel. +48 22 653 9718)) ($1=.7796 Euro)

Keywords: SLOVAKIA KLEIN