The brutal assassination of an investigative journalist and his fiancée not only provoked the biggest protests in Slovakia since the Velvet Revolution, the exchange of leading politicians and...Show moreThe brutal assassination of an investigative journalist and his fiancée not only provoked the biggest protests in Slovakia since the Velvet Revolution, the exchange of leading politicians and police officials, but it also set off an avalanche of cases and shocking revelations filled up with different kinds of lies and denials. Many of those were uttered by the then Prime Minister of Slovak Republic, Robert Fico. This thesis aims to analyze and determine the extent to which different kinds of lies can be connected to and used as defense strategies. The case study is based on selected instances of Robert Fico’s statements linked to the investigation of the murder and his arguments against Slovak journalists in general. The theoretical framework provides a closer look into the theory of lying, different approaches to what constitutes a lie, and how they can be applied and divided. As far as defense strategies are concerned, this thesis employs the classical rhetorical theory of stasis and its interpretation to create a classification of the ways in which people can defend themselves. The analysis of this thesis is conducted based on the theoretical framework and analyzes selected instances of Fico’s lies according to the definition of lies determined in the theoretical framework. Furthermore, the evaluated lies are examined in terms of defense strategies. Later on, the results are discussed and concluded providing a clear illustration that a person can use lies as defense strategies in cases when those lies are not recognizable as such or are implicit and therefore easy to deny.Show less
