By: Dr Vinko Gorenak
Over a year ago, four Constitutional Court judges overturned the decision of five Constitutional Court judges, who had suspended the implementation of the RTV Slovenia Act in the part concerning the management of this important institution. This allowed the premature and forceful termination of the lawful mandate of the previous leadership of RTV, which goes against all legal and democratic norms. But that is not all. The President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia, Matej Accetto, made it clear that the Constitutional Court judges, who have been giving priority to deciding whether the RTV Act is constitutional or not for over a year, will not decide at all. After more than a year, we see that this is true.
Already at that time, there were talks that Accetto, by doing this favour for LEFT-WING POLITICIANS and Golob, was allegedly buying himself a place as a judge at some European level. These days, this information has resurfaced, and it would not be surprising if this actually happened.
A few days ago, five (politically left-wing) constitutional judges decided not to review the initiative from SDS and NSi, which claimed that the procedure for recognising Palestine was inconsistent with the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly and the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia. With this decision, the five judges essentially approved a clear violation of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly and the Constitution. That is enough about the five constitutional judges (not all of them). I can only conclude that Slovenia no longer has a true guardian of its Constitution, and that many things, which are evidently illegal and unconstitutional, are now becoming legal and constitutional as a result. Where this will lead, we can only guess.
They say that once we lived under communism, which was harsh and ruthless towards individuals, but now we live in a democracy, a state governed by the rule of law, that we are free, and so on. But is that really the case? It seems to me that this only applies to the elite.
A few days ago, we saw police officers who brought the former judge Zvjezdan Radonjić in handcuffs before Judge Gordana Malović in Celje.
I was shocked. Something like this did not happen even in the darkest times of communism. As a former police officer – excuse me, militiaman – and their local chief, I can say this with full responsibility. Even back then, and even more so today, it was and still is the case that police handcuff someone if they are aggressive, if they pose a danger to themselves, police officers, or others, or if they are at risk of fleeing. When I saw former judge Radonjić in handcuffs in the media, I suspected judicial and police abuse of the law, of the rule of law, and more.
Let me remind you, this is the judge who presided over the trial of Milko Novič, the suspect in the murder of the former director of the Chemistry Institute in Ljubljana and acquitted him. This was apparently Radonjić’s mistake, as, according to him, he was supposed to convict Novič under the direction of certain other judges. However, former judge Radonjić ruled according to the law and not under orders from others. For this, he lost his position as a judge, and now he is on trial for allegedly insulting a judge who, according to Radonjić, pressured him to convict Novič. Let’s return to the judge now presiding over Radonjić’s case in Celje – Gordana Malović.
Radonjić presented a medical certificate to the judge stating that he was on sick leave until October 18th, 2024. He also provided an expert opinion that, for health reasons, he would be unable to attend the trial until early November, but that after November 1st, he would be able to participate in the trial with interruptions, for a maximum of two hours per day. None of this mattered. The judge, under the “what can they do to me” system, decided that Radonjić was avoiding the trial and therefore issued an order for his forcible apprehension by the police. Radonjić reportedly asked the judge at the beginning of the trial whether she had received the medical certificate and expert opinion, to which the judge allegedly replied that she had received both documents. If this is true, then it is a clear abuse of authority by Judge Gordana Malović, as she should not have issued the order for Radonjić’s forcible apprehension. Let me emphasise once again, I cannot recall a case during the former single-party and totalitarian system where something like this ever happened. This, of course, raises the question of when the police officers handcuffed former judge Radonjić. If they handcuffed him at his home when they began the forcible apprehension, this is a blatant abuse of power and a criminal offense under Article 261 of the Penal Code, which covers “abuse of official position or official rights”, as well as a criminal offense of negligence in the service under Article 262 of the same code.
Some information suggests that former judge Radonjić left the courtroom early, specifically at the beginning of the sentencing. Media reports indicate that Judge Gordana Malović demanded that the police once again apprehend Radonjić, who was allegedly arrested near the courthouse and brought back to court in handcuffs. If this second version is true, then much went wrong in this case as well. During the pronouncement of a sentence, the presence of the defendant, in this case, Radonjić, is not even required in the courtroom. Any demand by Judge Gordana Malović for Radonjić’s reapprehension would thus be illegal. In this case, I also see no reason why the police officers should have handcuffed former judge Radonjić unless he resisted or fled from them, which, given his health condition, almost certainly did not happen.
Despite some unclear details about this case, I cannot shake the impression that this is a series of mistakes and illegal actions by both Judge Gordana Malović and the two police officers. It seems to be a display of power and revenge against former judge Radonjić, which is disturbing. This leaves a lot of work for the president of the Higher Court in Celje, Branko Aubreht. Will he address it, or will he turn a blind eye?