By: Milan Gregorič, economist, cultural activist and journalist
To begin with, I sincerely apologise to all workers in the law enforcement agencies (police, prosecution, judiciary) who perform their duties professionally and honestly. My criticism is directed at individuals or groups within these agencies who, under the influence of behind-the-scenes actors of the deep state, carry out dirty and illegal attempts at political assassination of opponents of Slovenia’s transitional left, unfairly casting a negative light on the entire law enforcement system.
In the previous system, the communists positioned their trusted people in all key positions within society – government and law enforcement agencies, media, education, science, culture, civil society, and more. With democratisation, the spring political faction occasionally disrupted their hold within governmental bodies, but in most other areas of society, the transition brought little significant change. The communists retained control over the primary levers of real social power and skilfully exploited them to stay in power. Below, I will mention a few of the most notable examples.
Jurovski Dol as the greatest shame of Slovenian democracy
Let’s start with the almost forgotten darkest stain on Slovenian democracy: the still-unresolved political murder of Ivan Kramberger at a pre-election rally in Jurovski Dol before the first presidential election in the independent state in 1992. Pre-election polls had projected him to receive around 20% support. Evidently, an innocent man had to die so the left could once again secure the presidential seat. One might even say that, half a century after the bloody revolution, power could still be seized through murder in Slovenia.
A long series of judicial and media attempts at the political assassination of Janez Janša
In this section, I will focus on just a few of the most blatant attempts at judicial and media persecution of opponents of the Slovenian left, primarily Janez Janša. According to media sources, over a hundred charges have been filed against him, but there is no space here to discuss them all. Nor will I go into the cases of journalist Miro Petek, former mayor Franc Kangler, the “cycling” protests and the bicycle at Republic Square, the burning of Janša’s effigy accompanied by chants of “Kill Janša,” or the purging of Janša supporters under Golob’s leadership, among others. The first campaign against Janša was ignited by the politically fabricated intelligence scandal known as the Depala Vas affair, which forced him out of his position as defence minister.
Later, just before the 2008 election, Milan Kučan launched his infamous “big bang” with the Patria affair, accompanied by an intense smear campaign that left Janša publicly humiliated for alleged but unproven corruption, preventing him from timely or effectively defending himself. Borut Pahor, Janša’s political rival at the time, was able to reap the rewards and win easily. This was followed by a repeat in 2010 when, again just before local elections, the “independent” judiciary filed an indictment against Janša in the Patria case, alongside another massive defamation campaign. The same judiciary “coincidentally” scheduled the Patria trial just before the 2011 national elections, once again putting Janša in the public stocks. Matters peaked in 2014, when Janša was simply imprisoned a few weeks before the elections.
Highly ethical Miro Cerar, a prominent legal expert and then-political rival of Janša, perhaps held his nose and looked the other way while surreptitiously reaping the benefits of this blatantly dirty judicial affair. When the verdict was predictably overturned by a higher court and sent back for retrial, the judiciary executed one last dirty manoeuvre by letting the case expire, leaving an unresolved stain on Janša’s record. The major European defender of Slovenian democracy, Sophie in ’t Veld, meanwhile, looked away and did not send an investigative commission to Slovenia. Thus, the Patria affair stands as a glaring example – or a true “gem” – of judicial abuse for political purposes, deserving a place in the textbooks of European law faculties. The red mafia backstage could hardly invent a more primitive way to deceive us, ordinary citizens: abuse upon abuse, lie upon lie – a true political cesspool. They have allowed themselves much. The leading figures of the transitional left, who have lingered on the Slovenian political scene, kept quiet in the face of such abuses, comparable to those under Putin, and revealed themselves as a real “animal farm,” merely hiding behind democratic masks.
From the media (Domovina.je, October 2nd, 2020), we also learned that the Special Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against Janez Janša and others involved in a supposedly controversial land transaction in Trenta. The Trenta affair had initially, when it was first publicised in 2011, helped bring down Janša’s second government. A decade later, it seemed to serve once more as a convenient weapon for the corrupt backstage actors of the deep state aiming to topple Janša’s third government in 2020, after all other anti-Janša offensives failed (such as attacks on SMC and DeSUS, smearing the government abroad, an attempted coup within the DeSUS party, media manipulation, and so on).
In 1992, Janša purchased a 15,600-square-meter plot near a campsite along the Soča River in Trenta, with a small buildable portion, for 1.32 million tolars (equivalent to 22,000 Swiss francs). Thirteen years later, in 2005, he sold the land to the company Eurogradnje for 31.4 million tolars (131,000 euros), which then sold it to Imos for 146,000 euros. Imos later went bankrupt, and in 2014, the land became part of the bankruptcy estate. The official appraiser valued it at only 17,655 euros, allegedly raising suspicions of fraud, leading to an indictment. That same year, the land was auctioned, starting at the appraiser’s valuation of 17,655 euros. With substantial interest from bidders, it was eventually sold to the highest bidder, Damjan Podjed, for 127,500 euros. Two years later, Podjed resold the plot for 140,000 euros. The indictment allegedly accuses Janša of unlawful financial gain, claiming that he sold the property for far more than the appraiser’s valuation. It reportedly implicates other intermediaries in the transaction, including responsible figures in Eurogradnje and Imos, and even Damjan Podjed, although no further details about their indictments have surfaced in the media. It appears that the intermediary charges could be collateral damage or a smokescreen in this new judicial assault against Janša.
A commentator on the previously mentioned website also pointed out that the price at which Janša sold the land was entirely in line with market prices at that time, supported by numerous property listings for Trenta and Soča. The commentator emphasised that “in recent decades, the Soča Valley has become a beloved tourist destination where land prices have reached astronomical levels.”
Considering that authorities reopened this supposed controversial transaction 15 years after its conclusion, the commentator observed that it is hard to ignore the timing, coinciding with Janša’s return to power (for a third term) after Šarec stepped down. The online portal Požareport (October 2nd, 2020) echoed this sentiment with the headline, “Trenta dug out from the archives; Janša indicted after 15 years, just in time as the opposition struggles.”
And it does not stop there, as this endless saga continues, dragging on in an era when the collapse of the government project “Golob” suggests early elections may be in the air. Thus, Janša remains relentlessly tied to the pillory with the help of dominant media outlets – always, “by chance,” just before elections. No wonder he recently warned that if this continues, there may be no option left but RESISTANCE.
