At Friday’s protests, we witnessed for the first time a situation when the Slovenian police received clear instructions on how to act in relation to the protesters. As expected, the reactions of the protesters and their supporters, including the political media left, were diametrically opposed to the responses of the anti-protesters, undecided people and experts. While the latter either praised or critiqued the police’s conduct, saying that it was too mild or that the policemen were not given enough power, the leftists, in their established habit, created hysteria from some sharper meetings between protesters and police. And the media followed.
In the hysterical reactions to the police’s actions at Friday’s protests, the leader of the Radical Left Luka Mesec and LMŠ councilor Matej Špehar particularly stood out – the latter, with his pathetic tweet full of exaggeration, is certainly the winner of the year.
Špehar on the Holocaust, Mesec on “Violence Like No Other”
Matej Špehar in his response to what was happening at Friday’s protests included – you will not believe – Anna Frank and the Holocaust. According to Špehar, the conduct of the police was a “typical case of the Holocaust”. An interesting way of undermining the horror of the genocide. On Friday, an average person did not think that the police would do anything terrible, did not kill anyone, did not betray anyone to the enemy. If this is the Holocaust, then the Holocaust is nothing terrible.
Luka Mesec once again wrote an essay on his Facebook profile on the topic of “why the normal response of the police is fascism”. He excels at dramatization, hyperbolization and emotivism and being out of touch with reality (except if we are talking about the reality of certain narcissistic privileged citizens)”. Such essays win high school competitions.
The protesters were violent
Since drama queens like Špehar and Mesec cannot be trusted, we searched for some other sources, read some other opinions. Footage of Friday protesters’ attacking the police appeared on social media, portraying how the protesters were shoving and pushing over and police officers reacting calmly, even though they were attacked.
The police acted professionally and in accordance with international standards
We asked Vladimir Prebilič, an expert from the Department of Defence, for a statement regarding the conduct of the police. He said that freedom of assembly and expression are fundamental categories of any democracy and that restricting both must be subject to very weighty consideration, even if it is, as is now the case with COVID-19, a security issue.
He said that it is important, even necessary, given the current situation, to take into account all protective measures by the organizers. So far, it has not been possible to establish a direct link between the gathering of protesters and the increase in infections, which are reported to be mainly a result of reckless private parties. In his opinion, “the Slovenian police exercises control over the protesters in accordance with the law and in an acceptable manner, which still allows for the expression of opinions as well as gatherings. Their work is carried out entirely professionally and in accordance with international standards. “
