By: Petra Janša
“Because I knew how it would all end – and yet I still chose to judge the way I did – I would make the same judgment again. Between my own career and the destruction of a human life, I chose to side with a person’s freedom,” said former criminal judge Zvjezdan Radonjić in an interview for Demokracija magazine – Judiciary Dossier, which will be available to readers in the coming days.
He was referring to the Novič case, which, as I write in the mentioned magazine, should never have happened. What the authorities should have investigated is the Jamnik case – or as Radonjić says in the interview: “If the moment of uncovering the Chemical Institute case ever comes, it will be a clear sign that society has been cleansed to the necessary extent.” What should truly concern us is the former judge’s statement that “the system of moral values has been brought down to the level of Colombia or Mexico, where the intertwining of crime and state structures is transparent,” or that “the President of the Republic has to watch as the President of the Supreme Court, a top tycoon, and a convicted drug dealer sit together.”
“To my knowledge, there is also financial entanglement between state and local officials and crime in our country. They open bars together, move money around. Back in 2006, the lead investigator of the Florence police explained to me that mobsters no longer walk around with guns, but with computers. Crime is now merging into the legal sphere, which is evidenced by the overt presence of state, criminal, and parastate structures at various events and meetings,” Radonjić also told Demokracija magazine. Former Constitutional and Supreme Court judge Jan Zobec also spoke to the special edition of Demokracija, stating his firm belief that “a judge who compromises with his conscience is simply not independent.”