By: Association of Journalists and Commentators
The Association of Journalists and Commentators (ZNP) strongly condemns the police raid on the premises of Nova24TV. This raid allegedly occurred based on a complaint from a parliamentary commission that ostensibly investigates suspicions of illegal financing of political parties but was actually established to target the largest opposition party, SDS, and media outlets close to it. This was publicly confirmed by the former commission president, Mojca Pašek Šetinc.
The police raid is a clear political pressure tactic against a media outlet that is not in favour with the current government. It is evident that the police, which has been extensively politically appointed by Robert Golob’s government over the past two years (we recall the warnings from former General Director Tatjana Bobnar), has been abused for political purposes once again. It is very telling that this occurred just ten days before the European Parliament elections, in which the ruling coalition parties are projected to perform poorly according to most polls.
This is an attempt to intimidate and silence media critical of the authorities in the style of autocrats like Russian President Vladimir Putin. Such actions place Slovenia among the worst violators of media freedom in the European Union. Media freedom is a fundamental right protected by numerous international documents, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 19) and the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 10). Both documents emphasise the right to freedom of expression and access to information.
The ZNP calls on all responsible parties to immediately cease such political pressure on the work of media content creators. It also appeals to members of the police to resist further attempts at political misuse of this institution.
Board of Directors of ZNP (May 29th, 2024)