By: Davorin Kopše
Prosecutor, judge, supreme judge, and former president of the Supreme Court Branko Masleša has been hiding behind a veil of secrecy throughout his “professional” work within the judicial system. It is not known what evidence he has of his education and to whom he presented it at hixs first employment in Slovenia. In 1980, he came to the court in Koper from the Sarajevo Prosecutor’s Office. This is in a place close to the state border with Italy, where those who were not issued travel documents by the communist authorities for various reasons fled outside the border crossings. Above all, these were persons controlled by the political police (Udba). As an investigating judge, Masleša went on tours of border incidents and even shootings. He is also heavily involved in the unconstitutional political process of Patria, during which the protesters in support of Janša demanded for the first time: “Masleša, tell us!”
It turned out that Masleša was a useful judicial staff at the criminal department of the court in Koper during the incident at the border, when, according to public records, a soldier shot a man who was fleeing across the border. Branko Masleša was called to the scene as an investigating judge, where he protected the shooter. He was never prosecuted, although firearms were not allowed under Yugoslav law at the time in case of illegal border crossing. Moreover, this was officially considered a border incident. Nevertheless, Masleša did not contribute to prosecuting the perpetrator.
Speculation is spreading that he was appointed to the position of judge as a reliable and verified cadre by the Communist Party. At the time of Masleša’s occupation of the position of judge, it was still the one that had the first and last word if it had an interest. This is quite possible, as in the former system, according to this key, many held the positions of judges, even though they did not have the appropriate state bar exam. Due to the doubts that he did not even graduate, he supposedly made excuses in the past that his diploma burned during the military attacks in Sarajevo.
Subsequently, we learned on Pozareport.si that he has a diploma and is even supposed to bring it to work, where it will be copied. This is a twist that makes you think. Changing statements suggests a lie. This is the case in court proceedings. And something else. Why would someone bring a diploma to an employer after 40 years of employment? Namely, the employer should have this from the time when he applied for a job with him.
In case of doubt, the employer should unequivocally determine whether the supreme judge meets the conditions for occupying such a high position in the judicial branch of power, or whether the thesis that he was appointed by the Party is true. Instead, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia announced the following through the PR service: “The issue of the existence of judges’ diplomas is superfluous, given the legally prescribed election procedure, in which the fulfilment of the conditions for holding a judicial position is assessed. The Supreme Judge will file a lawsuit regarding the recorded untruths. The amount of compensation will be donated to charity.”
Masleša’s fellow judges are ‘upright’ silent all the time. Word is spreading that they are afraid for jobs and the existence of families. Is it really so easy to scare judges in Slovenia? How do they judge then? Based on this, can we also conclude that they were afraid to condemn the Balkan warriors who were released by the Supreme Court? But why were they not afraid to judge Patria’s unconstitutional trial? How many gears does a well-lubricated deep state parallel mechanism have?
The deafening silence of the majority media
After more than a fortnight of strenuous monitoring of questions about the education of the Chief Justice, who is the head of the criminal department at the Supreme Court, the mainstream media in the country are silent. They do not allow any disturbance in the gears of the mechanism of a well-oiled machine that drives a deep state. Until when?
Peter Žerjavič, who is supposed to be a Delo journalist, wrote on Twitter: “These people are really not embarrassed when without any argument, they try to collapse the judiciary.” This was his response to my tweet: “With each passing day without explanation, the problem gets bigger and wider. In this story, Masleša is becoming less and less of a problem, but the problem of the Supreme Court and the Judicial Council and the problem of justice as well as the social problem is growing proportionally”.
This raises the basic question of whether these people (certain journalists) really do not have the basic ability to judge or are they so deeply grounded. The justice system has been collapsing for years by incompetent people who hold judicial positions and decide on many personal destinies. Slovenia is paying hundreds of millions in fines for unfair judgments handed down by Slovenian judges. If this is all we call the justice system, it really needs to be torn down!
Branches of power and competencies
A Member does not need a diploma to hold office. If elected, he may even be illiterate. However, in the past there were doubts about the diploma of MP Branko Simonovič. When this came to light, this MP reacted immediately and showed his diploma to the public. By doing so, he proved his credibility.
As long as we have in the Supreme Court a Supreme Judge who does not want or cannot prove no later than the next day after the accusation that he meets the conditions for occupying this position, the entire Supreme Court is infected. It is therefore surprising that the remaining members of this court are falsely silent in solidarity. Nobody says a word. As long as they are silent, no one is worthy of this position. Judges who judge on behalf of the people are obliged to answer these people transparently to the question of whether they have the competence to judge them.
Once you are in the system, they do not check on you anymore
Various documents have been coming from the Faculty of Law in Sarajevo and from the Supreme Court in recent days, which are supposed to prove that Masleša graduated and has a bar exam. They are written in different fonts, the same documents are signed once, not the second time, the font is different and offset. At the time of writing the column, therefore, the key emphasis remains on the finding that we have received different versions of the diploma or certificate. Until these phenomena are fully explained, there remains strong doubts about the authenticity of all documents submitted. Personally, I do not believe them, and I will only believe them when the authenticity is unquestionably confirmed by an independent expert from abroad, where there is no Party. A polygraph for Masleša would not be superfluous either.
Is it possible that the Supreme Judge Branko Masleša, without proper education, smuggled through all the promotions and appointments in independent, sovereign, and democratic Slovenia, where the European Declaration of Human Rights applies? Is it possible that later the whole mechanism of proposing and choosing for individual functions did not check Masleša’s education and his personal suitability?
Once you are in the system, you are always on the list for promotions, honours, and appointments. In 1980, Masleša was appointed a judge in Koper by the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, chaired by Milan Kučan. Since then, Masleša has been a verified cadre of the Party in the system, so he was no longer verified according to the previously mentioned key. If no new conditions were required for all his subsequent functions in the judicial system, he was automatically considered eligible. Tailored to the Party?!
This is the most probable incredible inertia, after which the Party cadres broke through time and career. Is it possible that this is also happening in a democratic Slovenia, which has joined the countries where human rights are respected, including the right to a fair trial? Very amazing questions arise in connection with a single person who, when in doubt, does not find it worthwhile to appear in public and give explanations. Until when and where else? Did you graduate? Masleša, tell us!
Davorin Kopše is a veteran of the war for Slovenia, a candidate for MEP and an active citizen.