By: Jože Biščak
“Thirty years of the magazine Demokracija means 30 years of fighting for freedom of speech, since the left and other ‘woke’ actors still believe they have a monopoly on truth. From the first issue in September 1996, when we emerged as a conservative weekly of the Slovenian Spring, we experienced everything: inspectors, lawsuits, criminal charges, judicial farces, and media campaigns. The blood and ideological successors of the totalitarian communist regime tried to destroy us the entire time, yet we nevertheless endured.”
Let me remind you. Already in the first years we were attacked because of the lists of UDBA members. Lawsuits followed one after another, and law‑enforcement authorities were constantly coming in and out of our newsroom. Later, various “expert commissions” with left‑leaning compositions were used and abused – they labelled us a “factory of hate”, denied us funding, questioned advertising, and threatened our advertisers, while money flowed effortlessly to “their” media. The courts ruled in our favour. But that did not stop them.
One of the most shameful episodes in the life of Demokracija came with Aleksander Škorc’s gloss “Presežki 5” in December 2020. It was a satirical, clearly marked piece about the government’s inability to deal with illegal migration. And what happened? The philosopher Vezjak and a dozen NGOs filed charges, followed by Mayor Janković. The prosecution jumped in, and the court convicted – Škorc to five months in prison or two years suspended, and me as editor to six months in prison or two years suspended. The higher court confirmed the verdict. Because I published satire and allowed a voice that did not please the progressive elite to be heard. The judge even said it did not matter whether it was satire. Absurd. A politically and ideologically motivated conviction, whose real target was not an individual but the magazine Demokracija.
Left‑wing actors have smeared us for years as a “party media outlet” with “racist language”. The Media Inspectorate harassed us already in 2018 because of a cover on migration and the culture of rape. The Slovenian Journalists’ Association and progressive media were silent when we were sued and shouted when we spoke the truth. Today, on the thirtieth anniversary, we still endure their pressures, lawsuits, and attempts to silence us. But we are here. Because Demokracija is not just a magazine. And as long as we stand, we will not allow them to break us.
I myself stepped down in 2022 due to deteriorating health (I had suffered a second heart attack in the meantime). But I do not regret joining the Demokracija team. I can only be grateful to God that I experienced all of this. Because otherwise I simply would not believe that such things are possible.