By: Sara Kovač / Nova24tv
To bring normality back to Slovenia, to abolish dictatorship, to abolish totalitarianism, and to reintroduce democracy, the rule of law, to restore Slovenia’s reputation in the world, because the current government is bringing shame to us everywhere; to abolish political interference in the media,” said Sašo Jejčič, a retired criminal investigator, in April of this year, listing the reasons why he is running for the position of Member of Parliament on the list of the Left party (Levica). Although he was (once again) unsuccessful in the elections, he has now been engaged by the former “independent” journalist Mojca Šetinc Pašek as an external associate of the Commission of Inquiry for determining the political responsibility of holders of public office with regard to the alleged illegal financing of political parties and party political propaganda in the media before and during the 2022 elections to the National Assembly with financial resources from state-owned enterprises, state institutions and foreign entities. Well-informed sources have told us that his original idea was for him, as an associate of the Commission, to follow and question individuals about their involvement in the matter. He is said to have all the necessary references for this – Jejčič is said to have been an associate of the State Security Administration of the former communist regime.
Recently, the request of the National Assembly’s Commission of Inquiry, which is investigating the political responsibility of holders of public office with regard to the alleged illegal financing of political parties and party political propaganda in the media before and during the 2022 elections to the National Assembly with financial resources from state-owned enterprises, state institutions and foreign entities, has caused quite a stir. Namely, the head of the Commission, MP Mojca Pašek Šetinc, asked municipalities for documentation related to advertising contracts with more than 20 media outlets. Šetinc Pašek claims that the Commission followed an act approved by the National Assembly when adopting this decision.
Members of the Commission in question that has been set up during the current government’s term in office are investigating suspicions of unlawful influence of public office holders on the publication of advertising content by the state administration, public institutions, and companies owned directly or indirectly by the state, in media outlets partly owned or influenced by political parties or foreign owners. The Association of Journalists and Publicists (Združenje novinarjev in publicistov – ZNP) had condemned the abuse of the National Assembly’s Commission of Inquiry, headed by the Freedom Movement MP, as a means of settling the political score with the democratic media outlets.
We have previously also reported that the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) demanded the expulsion of Tomaž Modic, an “expert associate” of the Commission, who is a journalist from the left-wing “Necenzurirano” web portal (“Uncensored”). In its request, the party explained that “Necenzurirano” is part of a large media network owned by the media tycoon Martin Odlazek and that, according to media reports, there were also financial and content links between the web portal and state-owned companies, including the Gen-I energy company, which was headed until recently by the current Prime Minister Robert Golob. “In view of the above, there is a high probability that Tomaž Modic may find himself as a witness or person under investigation of the Commission of Inquiry in question due to his cooperation with state-owned companies,” they wrote. According to our information, the investigation team also includes one other member or external collaborator of dubious reputation, namely Sašo Jejčič, who was the candidate of the Left party in Sevnica at the latest elections to the National Assembly.
He was Kos’s coworker
Jelčič was a professional secretary in the municipal council of the Slovenian Trade Union Confederation Sevnica until 1983, and after that, he was an independent inspector in the Krško State Security Centre until 1990. From 1990 to 1996, he worked as a senior criminal investigator and head of the economic crime department in the Criminal Investigation Office of the Krško Police Directorate of Internal Affairs, and until 2007 he was the head of the Criminal Investigation Police Division at the Krško Police Directorate.
He then retired in 2008, after which he worked as an honorary associate of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption under the leadership of Drago Kos. “This made my transition into retirement easier, and I also earned a carport for two cars,” he said. He is also a member of the veterans’ organisations SEVER and the Associations of the National Liberation Movement of Slovenia and, in his own words, is “against the distortion of recent history.” His father was an officer in the Yugoslav People’s Army, so Jelčič attended the first three grades of primary school in Macedonia. “I became a real polyglot. I spoke Slovenian at home, Serbo-Croatian and Macedonian outside. I still know the Cyrillic script,” he boasted.
Slovenian politician and publicist Igor Omerza commented on the possibility of Jelčič joining the Commission of Inquiry on Twitter, writing: “The Šetinc-Pašek Commission of Inquiry believes that Jejčič, the ‘Sevnica’ neighbour of Melanija Knavs (now Trump), a member of the Left party who was also a member of the secret political police of the Slovenian communist top, the Slovenian STASI, during the failed socialist era, is its dream associate. You cannot escape the State Security Administration!”