By: Petra Janša
Last Thursday, I was warned that members of the mandate-election commission, in a closed session, are deciding whether to send a request to the Celje court to start criminal proceedings against Judge Zvjezdan Radonjić. The judge who had the courage to say what had happened before, during and after the trial in the Novič case, and in doing so revealing serious irregularities in the Slovenian judiciary.
I am not surprised that the Celje prosecutor’s office is prosecuting him, as the same prosecutor’s office started the case of an (un)bribed judge years ago, which ended in secret in the Ljubljana court when the court dismissed the criminal complaint. I am also not surprised by this outcome, as the procedure could have unpredictable consequences. It should be reminded that at that time the Celje Prosecutor’s Office was headed by Ivan Žaberl, who was probably retired due to the finding that he was listed as an auto mechanic on Udba’s list.
Let me mention a remark made to me about udboautomechanic, so that you will understand that there are many Democrats who find it “nice” that such people make decisions about our lives. @DarkoErmenc tweets like this: “The peak of primitiveness is your charging and constructs. If he used to be a car mechanic, then he is an idiot, or what?” In response, a tweet from @freewiseguy, who wrote: “Even a senior nurse can become the Minister of Justice. There is supposedly nothing wrong with that, except for innocent convicts and award-winning banksters. Oh yeah, and we are somewhat economically behind the former Soviet satellites. That’s not a big deal, right?”
This is how the National Assembly will decide on the fate of Judge Radonjić. Andrej Žnidarčič tweets: “Upside down world. In our country, criminal proceedings are initiated by people who should be in criminal proceedings.” Judge Radonjić thus realised the cruel truth that the Communist Udba does not forgive. It is allowed everything. And the founder of totalitarian criminal law, Ljubo Bavcon, knows this well. In the latest collection of testimonies about Milan Kučan, he gives his boss, for his 80th birthday, the thought of a Polish publicist Adam Michnik that anti-communism is worse in the world than communism. Hm.
Updise down world. In our country, criminal proceedings are initiated by people who should be in criminal proceedings.
(The comment was written on Monday, January 25th, before the vote in the National Assembly.)
Petra Janša is a journalist of the magazine Demokracija.