By: Tanja Brkić (Nova24tv.si)
March 20th is approaching, marking the 30th anniversary of the so-called “Depala vas affair”. The correct term would be “conspiracy”. A conspiracy that was intentionally and deliberately carried out not only against the then Minister of Defence Janez Janša but also against independent Slovenia.
At that time, media propaganda was also very influential, as vividly and succinctly portrayed in the book titled 1994 Zarota Depala vas, which offers an insider and outsider perspective from the authors: then Minister of Defence Janez Janša and journalist Jože Biščak. Biščak stated that both eventually reached the same conclusions: “This was a conspiracy – a conspiracy not only against Janša but against Slovenia.”
Almost 30 years ago, on March 20th, 1994, the Depala vas affair erupted with the arrest of secret police collaborator Milan Smolnikar, carried out by members of the Ministry of Defence. It was executed by four members of the Slovenian Army who discovered confidential documents at Smolnikar’s place. Later, it was revealed that the documents were deliberately forged and that it was a clash between two political factions.
Members of the secret service brought Radenko Radojčič, an officer of the KOS Yugoslav intelligence service and an expert in counterintelligence activities, to Slovenia. According to historian and journalist Jože Možina, Radojčič was ordered to devise a plan to discredit Janez Janša. “Basically, he devised a plan, which he later described during questioning by the Croatian intelligence service when he fled to Croatia. You must create a hostile relationship between Janez Janša and the media, leading journalists, and editors,” Možina, who is also the author of the film The Curse of Depala vas, explained Radojčič’s plans.
He ordered the production of articles that, by revealing personal information about journalists and editors, discredited them. The entire conspiracy was orchestrated in such a way that they would suspect Janša’s involvement in the sabotage at that time. According to Možina, the mentioned affair formally began with Smolnikar’s arrest because the story was presented as interference from the military sphere into civilian affairs. Janša, as the then Minister of Defence, was objectively responsible, even though it was later proven that Smolnikar had been planted, and Radojčič and his team heavily pressured then Prime Minister Janez Drnovšek to dismiss Janša.
Možina: “The fact that he was thrown out of the government in this way caused the strengthening of the SDS Party.”
“The lesson from this story is that they actually succeeded in removing Janez Janša from the government at that time, but he was in the Social Democratic Party, which had less than three percent and only four MPs. However, being thrown out of the government in that way caused the SDS to become very strong, later even the dominant party in Slovenian politics,” Možina concluded.
After 1994, there followed a reconquest by the communist regime, which continues to this day
The Depala vas story is often referred to as the mother of all scandals because after the 1994 affair, a renewed reconquest of the previous communist regime began, which continues to this day. According to Možina, all of this has caused a decline in normal democratic development, for which we are still paying the price today.
Biščak: “This was a coup, not a scandal.”
Biščak also mentioned that the book is very successful because it offers Janša’s perspective as the Minister of Defence from the inside, as well as his journalistic perspective. “And in the end, with Janša, we practically come to the same conclusions, that this was a conspiracy not only against him but against Slovenia,” said Biščak, who believes that the problem with this conspiracy is that it is still referred to today as a scandal, even though it should be recognised as a coup against independent Slovenia.
Biščak is convinced that everyone should read this book because it succinctly describes the conspiracy or the workings of the left. “When people realise how these progressive – now awakened – operate, they will also see for themselves that it is good to decide based on their own judgment, not on what the mainstream media write.”
Although more than three decades have passed since independence, as an independent state, we have not yet rid ourselves of the shackles of the former regime, which causes numerous state imbalances. The fact that the state of the country has exponentially worsened in the last two years is evidenced, among other things, by the abolition of the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Communism, the closure of the Museum of Independence, and the dishonourable burial of the victims of Huda Jama. These conspiracies and injustices are the greatest threat to Slovenia’s democratic system.