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Slovenia News Bulletin Overview of the week's top stories since 7 Dec. 2003 by brian J. po žunThis week’s headlines…
And in other news…
Šuštar once again convicted On 9 December, former Economy Ministry State Secretary Boris Šuštar was convicted of accepting a bribe, following a conviction in spring 2001 which was later cancelled due to irregularities in the judicial process. The regional court in Ljubljana has now sentenced him to two years and four months in prison and a fine of SIT seven million (USD 35,000). He is also forbidden from working in a position that would give him access to state budgetary funds. Šuštar is the first civil servant to be convicted of a corruption-related offence in Slovenia. Three others were also convicted and sentenced in connection with the case: Stanislav Droljc was convicted of aiding and abetting the acceptance of a bribe and sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of SIT five million (USD 25,000); and Boštjan Šoba and Šuštar’s wife Rozana were convicted of aiding and abetting the acceptance of a bribe and sentenced to a fine of SIT three million (15,000). The convictions are not yet in force, and Šuštar’s lawyer Peter Čeferin is planning to appeal the verdicts. Speaking to POP TV, Čeferin quipped that since Šuštar got seven months less in prison this time, when the case is heard again he will likely get off with no prison time at all.Šuštar himself told POP TV that t he ruling proves that judge Dejana Fekonja is merely qualified to clean the courthouse’s bathrooms. On 11 December, head of the Ljubljana regional court Marjan Pogačnik told the press that charges have been filed against Šuštar for the comment. If convicted of slander in the media or in public, Šuštar could face another fine or up to six more months in prison.
In the spring of 2001, Šuštar was convicted to three years in prison and a fine. In May 2002, the Ljubljana High Court cancelled the conviction in the course of Šuštar’s appeal, a move called for by both the defense and prosecuting attorneys. Irregularities in the judicial process were cited. Šuštar was arrested in November 2000 and the case was at that time the country’s first major corruption scandal. Šuštar maintains that his arrest and conviction were politically motivated. He believes that after he fell out of favor with his party, the LDS, he was sacrificed to higher interests: the need to prosecute a high-profile corruption case to prove the government’s commitment to fighting corruption. Helsinki Monitor agreed that the Šuštar case was exploited to demonstrate to the EU that Slovenia is serious about tackling corruption. Šuštar maintains that bribery between corporations and the government is common, even among some prominent politicians.
Lončarič group convicted of human trafficking On 18 December, Radio Slovenija reported that Josip Lončarič has been convicted of organizing and participating in the trafficking of human beings, as well as for illegal possession of firearms. He received a 22-month prison sentence. Lončarič also faces related charges in Croatia and Italy. All together, twelve people were convicted for their parts in the human trafficking scheme masterminded by Lončarič. Sentences ranged from nearly four years in prison to just eight months suspended.The group has 15 days to file appeals. The prosecutor’s office told Radio Slovenija that they will file their own appeal, since the sentences were lower than demanded. This has been Slovenia’s largest trial for human trafficking. Lon čarič and six others were arrested in November 2000, and the trial began in October 2001.
Journalist wins case against the State On 16 December, STA reported that journalist Tomaž Ranc has won his case against the State. In 1998 and 1999, Ranc wrote a series of articles about a scandal in which several figures in the Internal Ministry were implicated. Since he named names, criminal investigators accused him of revealing state secrets and prepared a list of his telephone calls in order to find his informant. The list was prepared before the investigators had a permit from the court of investigation, and so Ranc filed a suit against the state demanding SIT 5 million (USD 25,000) in damages.The court initially awarded him SIT 600,000 (USD 3000) but the High Court cancelled that verdict last June citing irregularities in the judicial process in the regional court. This time, the court upheld the earlier verdict and awarded him SIT 700,000 (USD 3500). Ranc told STA that he is satisfied with the verdict, and that it is a contribution to democratic standards and increasing journalists’ autonomy.
Rupel off the hook On 16 December, the Ljubljana Regional Court refused a request by the State Prosecutor’s Office for an investigation against Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel. The court decided that allegations against Rupel relating to attempted criminal abuse of official position were baseless. The allegations stem from the Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic academy, which is mandated by the Law on Foreign Relations. For about ten years, the academy was part of the Social Sciences Faculty of the University of Ljubljana. In April, however, the Ministry pulled the academy from the university and signed an agreement to move it to the Law Faculty and Diplomatic Academy (PFDA) based in Portorož.Controversy erupted when the media discovered that the PFDA does not formally exist, since it is not registered and its program still has not been approved by the Council on Higher Education. On 5 December, the Council of Higher Education refused to authorize the establishment of the PFDA. The school has no more than two months to redo and resubmit its application materials. Among the problems with the application is the use of the name "academy," which is reserved for art schools. Further, Mladina reported that Rupel himself had signed on to teach full time at the PFDA. The news weekly alleged corruption, the head of the government’s anti-corruption office Boštjan Penko agreed. Rupel has insisted that the allegations are a "political construct" intended to discredit him.
Ravne na Koroškem fliers full of hate speech Residents of an apartment building in Ravne na Koroškem discovered fliers in their mailboxes on 10 December which were apparently distributed by a group calling themselves "Slovenes for a Cleaner Slovenia." Two large posters were also found. The fliers and posters spoke out against the government’s recent decision to regularize the citizenship of citizens of the former Yugoslavia who had residency in Slovenia at the time of independence but who were stricken from Internal Ministry registries and have not been able to get Slovene citizenship in more than a decade. The decision is to be put to a referendum in the near future. The Slovene press usually calls them the "Erased." They also spoke out against recent steps made towards building a mosque in Ljubljana. The fliers alleged that the Erased are "members and sympathizers of the Yugoslav People’s Army" and that those calling for a mosque are an "Islamic harem among us." The apartment building seems to have been singled out because one of its residents is Mladen Balaban, the head of the Carinthia (Koroška) branch of the Society of Erased Residents of Slovenia (DIPS). Speaking to Dnevnik, Ombudsman for Human Rights Matja ž Hanžek commented: “In and of itself, such an action is not very worrying. But because it is the result of intolerant politics at the highest levels, everything together becomes problematic and tragic. Because of politics, intolerance is becoming a part of everyday conversation, and that is the worst."
And in other news…
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