By: Sara Bertoncelj / Nova24tv
Although Prime Minister Robert Golob asserted that the explanations of the acting Director General of the Police Boštjan Lindav do not confirm the statements of the Minister of Internal Affairs regarding the politicisation of the police, the content of the report testifies to the contrary. Moreover, in the report, Lindav emphasised that the curtailment of the independence of the police and the influence of politics on their work in practice is mainly manifested in requests for the staffing of certain persons to positions, their dismissal from certain positions, and staffing in violation of established rules, without the knowledge of the superior. Among other things, he highlighted Golob’s idea to “call” the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to complete the investigation against Darko Muženič as soon as possible, as he wanted to return him to the head of the NPU as soon as possible. According to unofficial information, he is said to be the new candidate for the General Director of the Police. Lindav’s letter also revealed details surrounding the special security unit under the leadership of Miloš Njegoslav Milović.
“Your decision not to follow my proposal for the appointment of Boštjan Lindav is unprecedented in the history of the police,” Interior Minister Tatjana Bobnar, who is expected to resign tomorrow, wrote to Prime Minister Robert Golob, accusing him of wanting to depoliticise the Police by politicising it. She will also report allegations of political pressure to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Slovenia. Boštjan Lindav’s letter was a bit more shrouded in mystery, as Večer newspaper reported that Lindav’s report, which is classified as secret, was supposed to be very detailed, and it should also contain specific names of who during the current government’s mandate pressures on the work of the police. On the other hand, Golob asserted that the explanations of the acting Director General of the Police do not confirm the statements of the Minister of Internal Affairs regarding the politicisation of the police. The police have now published this report.
“According to the public appeals in the media and the appeal of the Prime Minister’s office that with the intention of full awareness of the contents of the letter sent to the Prime Minister we should inform the public in order to be fully informed, we are also publishing this report anonymised,” the Police announced. The letter explained “certain political pressures” that Lindav informed the Minister of the Interior and the Prime Minister. Lindav also understood the calls he was receiving from the Prime Minister’s office as pressure: “The last time it happened was yesterday, when an adviser from the Prime Minister’s office called the acting General Director of the Police, despite knowing that the latter is on sick leave, and convinced him of the necessity of a meeting with the Prime Minister.”
The activities of the parapolice and Miloš Milović revealed
In the report, Lindav first explained how the interview as a candidate for General Director of the Police was conducted with Golob at the end of May. Among other things, it could be understood that the Prime Minister was not very satisfied that Darko Muženič could not be immediately reinstated as director of the NPU – an investigation is underway against Muženič and such a move would be questionable from the point of view of ethics and integrity. Golob was of the opinion that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office should be called upon to conclude the investigation as soon as possible, while Bobnar and Lindav explained to him that the police do not have the authority to do so and that such a call would also be controversial. Golob also said that “something needs to be done as soon as possible with the one down there who is the director at his end” – by which he was most likely targeting Evgen Govekar, who has been the director of the Gorizia police since April this year. In addition, the interview was attended by someone who, according to him, is in charge of protecting the president. Since his name is blacked out, we can only guess that it is Miloš Njegoslav Milović.
At the interview described above, it was also agreed to amend the Regulation on the Protection of Certain Persons and Facilities. At the beginning of June, the first meeting between representatives of CVZ (Centre for Safety and Protection) and GSV (General Secretariat of the Government) was held. The secretary general, a lawyer and someone else were present from the GSV, and Bojan Oman, Slavko Koroš, Borut Jakopin, the secretary general, a lawyer and someone else were present from the CVZ. The head of CVZ reported on the agreed changes, which should be forwarded to DPDNV (Directorate for Police and Other Security Tasks) for coordination. At the end of August, Lindav attended a meeting on the topic of protecting the president. Milović was also present in the premises of the general secretary of the GSV, who during the meeting opposed what Lindav was advocating – i.e., the position of the profession in favour of uniform arrangements for the protection of protected persons. Even in this part, it can be understood that it is really about Milović, as he referred to his experience guarding Janez Drnovšek. From what has been written, we can see that Milovič practically put Lindav in front of the fact of how the protection of the Prime Minister should be carried out, even though Lindav did not agree with the proposed method. The coordination of the agreement was continued, led by Robert Ferenc and Mojca Ramšak Pešec.
At a meeting in early September, representatives of the police expressed concern about the adequacy of the legal bases on the basis of which the Regulation on the Protection of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia was issued. At this meeting, one of the attendees expressed certain unrealistic expectations regarding the provision of aid, such as the immediate provision of helicopter transport. A few days later, Lindav received a phone call informing him that Robert Kešpert from SE GPU had been chosen as the head of the office for the Prime Minister. Acting General Director of the Police was not previously aware of any selection procedure – so Kešpert was chosen without his knowledge. When Kešpert approached Lindav for an interview a few days later, Lindav expressed some concerns about the operational capability of a relatively small unit for demanding security. According to Lindav, Kešpert did not accept these concerns. At the end of the meeting, Kešpert hinted to Lindav that it would be better if the SE (special unit) was attached to him as General Director.
In the following, Kešpert called Lindav several times on the work phone, the conversations were related to solving certain problems that SVPV encountered in its work, Lindav responded each time. In a conversation at the end of September, Kešpert informed Lindav that CVZ police officers are not cooperative and that police officers employed by SVPV are putting pressure on them. Lindav ordered the head of the CVZ to organise a working meeting, at which it was agreed – despite some concerns – that the CVZ would provide all the necessary assistance to the SVPV. In early October, Kešpert called Lindav again and complained about some problems, adding that if they continued, he would have to inform the Prime Minister about them. Lindav told him to do so and also explained to him who he should contact in case of problems, as defined in the cooperation agreement.
Lindav went on to describe a few personnel changes, which the Police were not informed about, only prepared contracts came from the GS MNZ. “The curtailment of the independence of the police and the influence of politics on their work is manifested in practice mainly in the demands for the staffing of certain persons to positions, their dismissal from certain positions, and staffing beyond the established rules, without the knowledge of the superior,” explained Lindav, who also pointed out that the fact that several meetings between two state bodies were attended by a person who is not employed by either of these bodies can be described as a particularly irresponsible behaviour. Lindav was also informed by this same person about the selection of the head of the SVPV. Lindav also emphasised that he cannot accept the fact that the head of the SVPV will use the threat of informing the Prime Minister as a means of pressure.
According to some information, Lindav was not chosen as the General Director of the Police because he and the interior minister did not sufficiently clean up the police after the mandate of Janez Janša. Lindav replied that all personnel moves were made on the basis of expert arguments and analyses. At this point, we would not completely agree with Lindav’s claim, but more on that another time. At the end of the report, Lindav also wrote that during the preparation of the report on the Prime Minister’s request on political pressure on the work of the police, the head of the Prime Minister’s office, Petra Škofic, called him twice and told him that Golob wanted to meet with him. Lindav agreed to the meeting, but only in the presence of the Minister of the Interior, who is his direct superior. Golob was clearly not in favour of the proposal.