By: Gašper Blažič
Dear readers, do you believe that Slovenian courts will convict the notorious Dušan Josip Smodej, the infamous figure at the centre of the Fotopub affair that seriously shook the (L)eft?
If you ask me, this movie is never going to be screened. It is already been three and a half years since the scandal broke, and in the meantime the main actor has not even received an indictment. And as long as that is the case, he remains untouchable, and it is very likely that the prosecution will expire before the Slovenian Epstein ever gets to sit on the defendant’s bench. Just as the Baričevič affair never actually received any judicial epilogue, since the street surveillance footage that supposedly captured the owner of the luxury car driving away from the scene mysteriously disappeared. Something similar happened in the case of the murder of Dr Janko Jamnik. And what does the 8 March Institute say? Chirp-chirp-chirp.
This bizarre untouchability of Smodej in relation to Slovenian law enforcement actually reveals the decay of the rule of law in our country. Naturally, under the baton of Golob’s government and coalition. Of course, those currently in power will confidently insist that they have restored the rule of law in Slovenia. That is also why they rushed to appoint new constitutional judges before the elections. And just a day earlier, the old composition of the Constitutional Court issued a ruling. On the unconstitutionality of the “depoliticised” RTVS law? No, not at all! Instead, they declared that an 80‑year‑old trial ending in the death sentence of a certain general had been entirely justified. And of course, many other scandals involving the current government are still awaiting judicial resolution. For example, the Litijska affair. But forget about accountability: in that case, two lower‑level officials will take the fall, the same ones the ruling politicians are now using as doormats.
Then there is the inquisitorial (i.e., investigative) parliamentary commission, supposedly tasked with uncovering the grave sins of the opposition parties. The previous chairwoman of the commission, who, by coincidence, is once again running for parliament (this time on the list of the “proud successors”), openly admitted that the purpose of the commission was to settle scores with the opposition and stage a political show. The current chairwoman confirmed this – a month and a half before the elections she announced that she was allegedly receiving death threats because of her fight for truth and justice. As for who is threatening her and what the threats contain, not a single word. Because we are simply expected to take her at her word that the main problem in Slovenia is the opposition, not the government. Even former president Milan Kučan is sending messages through Reporter, warning us to beware of a possible fourth Janša government. And then, in a podcast with the Speaker of Parliament, he talks about ruling through intimidation. And this lecture comes from the last party boss who, in the late 1980s, attempted to resolve the issue of the emerging opposition through a perfidious affair we now know by the letters JBTZ. Truly, peak irony.
And the same party boss now tells Slovenia that, for the sake of protecting the constitutional order, it must support the current prime minister. The one who, in bizarre showbiz‑style videos, boasts about how he “gave God” to opposition MPs. And who is, of course, quietly supported by the mayor of Ljubljana, who tells the residents of the Štepanjsko naselje that if they lack parking spaces, they should simply return to the era when each family could afford at most one car. Because as long as he is the boss of the Slovenian capital, the rule of law will function, through tow trucks. You know, in 1972, Zoran’s and Milan’s role model, known as the Great Mushroom Picker, spoke in a similar tone: “If we were not in power, that would mean someone else was…”
If what I have listed is truly the rule of law, then I suspect that this “legal state” was crafted by none other than Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein, two saintly icons of the global left. And apparently, the Slovenian rule of law is chained to a radiator. It is time for this to end. March 22 will be the opportunity.