By: Gašper Blažič
In recent days, the online portal Požareport published the response of Rudi Možgan – the farmer whose 24 cows were taken by the inspection under extremely suspicious circumstances – to the fine imposed by the police earlier this summer (practically just before the catastrophic floods). This fine was issued regarding a donkey that was supposedly his. At least, that is what the police, using their own judgment, decided, sending the bill to Možgan without even verifying the ownership of the donkey. As Možgan explained, the donkey occasionally appears on his farm, which is not evidence of ownership.
The story of the donkey became even more bizarre last week when Možgan’s lawyer, Franci Matoz, received a phone call from the infamous inspector Danuša Štiglic, who wanted to know where Rudi Možgan keeps the donkey so they could seize it as well. This comes after the public admission that the cattle removal was unlawful, as reported last week.
It seems that the ruling clique has decided to push its bizarre undermining of the principles of the rule of law to a bitter end. How to justify their illegal actions, which apparently also have traces of Tina Gaber, supposedly the best friend of Danuša Štiglic? By bizarrely politicising and turning the story into a smear campaign through their subordinate media, making the robbed farmer out to be a “supporter of Janša”, as Odlazek’s portal Necenzurirano did recently. Allegedly, Možgan used to work as a guard at Dob, where he reportedly got along well with the then-imprisoned Janez Janša?! And coincidentally, they even have the same lawyer.
Even the regional newspaper Dolenjski list, which also belongs to Odlazek’s “trash” empire, published an interview with Danuša Štiglic, where she confidently presented herself as an animal protector, claiming that Možgan should not be allowed to have cows again. And beware, this article appeared in Dolenjski list two days after the Administration for Food Safety, Veterinary and Plant Protection, within the framework of an extraordinary verification of cattle removal on the farm in Leskovec near Krško, found violations of certain provisions of national legislation. Who is fooling whom?
It is necessary to add the fact that the day after the information about the illegal cattle removal was published, a statement was released to the public from the administration mentioned above, stating that the media had misunderstood the situation, and the inspection procedure regarding the cattle removal near Krško has not yet been concluded, and the extraordinary verification is not fully completed. So, we can assume that someone from the government has strongly influenced the leadership of the administration.
The National Council also decided last week (December 6th) without any votes against, to call on the Constitutional Court to assess the constitutionality of the amendment to the Animal Welfare Act, in parts that determine the appointment of qualified reporters of improper treatment of animals and the use of the proceeds from the sale of seized animals.
And that is not all: such provocative media reports have a specific purpose, which is evident in the comments under the articles online, where there are even calls to put Rudi Možgan in prison since animal cruelty is a criminal offense.
However, it is not just about discrediting individual farmers and families but also about encouraging general public resistance against farmers. Even Rudi Možgan has pointed out the issue of the influx of “urban” residents to rural areas, where they then impose their rules and restrictions on farmers. Clearly, Golob’s circle wants even more: to forcefully discipline farmers, who still bear the stamp of the class enemy. It is expected that Golob will finally break his teeth on this matter.