At a time when the whole world is fighting the epidemic, socially distancing, and following the advice of the experts and the measures imposed by the Governments with the intention to curb the spread of a virus for which there is no cure, it seems that some Slovenian protesters care very little about the health of their fellow citizens. They regularly gather at protests, where they do not keep the proper social distance. In addition, left-wing “protesters” are threatening with death, parading around with signs such as “Death to Janša-ism” and “Death to Janša,” and the national media RTV SLO then publishes photographs of all this, as if this is in no way controversial. But all of these actions show signs of a whole range of criminal acts, that the media and the extremists are clearly unaware of.
In principle, the national media outlet RTV Slovenia frowns upon death threats. Which, of course, is completely sensible. The problem, however, seems pretty
obvious when it turns out that they have double standards in the matter. Prime Minister Janez Janša has already pointed this problem out on Twitter, calling on RTV to abandon the double standards. “Under the wing of the extreme left, they have now become the main instigators of hatred, threats, and even part of the group that threatens the health and lives of everyone during the coronavirus pandemic.”
They forget that such behavior is punishable with imprisonment
It appears that the leftist protesters and the national broadcaster are forgetting that the Criminal Code also exists. Article 359. Clearly states: “(1) Whoever, in order to jeopardize the existence, constitutional regulation or security of the Republic of Slovenia, calls or instigates for the direct committing of the offenses, referred to in Articles 348 to 357 of this Code, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.”
This includes the following criminal acts: treason, attack on territorial integrity, attack on state independence, violation of territorial integrity, assassination of the President of the Republic, violence against senior officials of the country, violence against representatives of foreign countries or international organizations, armed resistance, diversion and sabotage.
Given that the radical protesters are clearly threatening the Prime Minister with death, it makes sense to point out Article 353 of the Criminal Code (violence against senior officials of the country), which states that anyone who, in order to jeopardize the performance of the regular functions in the democratic arrangement or security of the Republic of Slovenia, abducts any of the highest representatives of the State – a member of Parliament, a member of the National Council, a member of the Government, a judge of the constitutional or supreme court, or commits any other form of violence against him or anyone close to him, or attacks his official premises, private residence, or means of transport, shall be punished by imprisonment of no less than fifteen years.
Death threats for Počivalšek and Godec as well
But it is not just the protesters, who are clearly hostile. A lot of posts, filled with hatred, can also be found in the group that was created in support of Ivan Gale from the Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Commodity Reserves. Even though the group’s description clearly states that the group does not advocate for any ideology, does not belong to any political option or party, does not support any intolerant expressing, attacks or hate speech and incitement to commit crimes and offenses, a short review of the posts and comments shows us that this is not even remotely true.
What stands out in particular, is a post that was made in the group; under a picture that one of the members posted, a series of hostile comments were written, one of them was a death threat to the Minister of Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Počivalšek and the State Secretary Jelka Godec. What was written among the comments that referred to the picture of Počivalšek, is the following: “I would choke him on Tarča, live, if I could.” One of the members agreed to help. And another member suggested a “shot to the head” for both Počivalšek and Godec. Horrifying.
Knafelj’s “peacefulness”
The so-called independent expert, Rihard Knafelj, has also expressed his hostility in several posts on social networks. The group that supports Gale, also came to his defense. In his posts, Knafelj cannot hide the hatred he has for the current Prime Minister and Minister Počivalšek.
And the post that really crossed the boundary reads: “Great news! Your family just informed us they are praying to Jesus for you. So we are giving your respirator to someone who does not have Jesus curing them.” Given that Knafelj is a doctor at the University Medical Centre of Ljubljana, it seems particularly terrifying that he harbors such hatred for Christians. A post like this can easily make one believe that he would deny access to medical ventilators to all Christians.
It seems interesting that the employees of RTV Slovenija continue to claim that they are being pressured. But the fact is that it is actually RTV, which is the most hostile and obviously subjective. This is especially true when it comes to those who the left-wing members of the national media outlet do not particularly like.
Despite the fact that they later removed the controversial picture which calls for the death of the Prime Minister, the fact that it was even published in the first place, speaks for itself. It is shameful that all Slovenian households have to pay the mandatory RTV contribution since it is blatantly obvious that our national media outlet is not acting in the public interest of all citizens. Either way, the fact is that death threats are crimes that should not be tolerated under any circumstances. The same criteria should apply to everyone.
Hana Murn