“At that time, Drago Kos and Boštjan Penko appeared in Rop’s government one day. They were explaining some principles to the government, the concept of which was the then-still unfounded Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (referred to as the CPC). At first, the matter did not interest me at all, so I did not pay much attention to it. They talked for a while, and then it started to seem to me that the matter is a bit weird, and I realised that it was, indeed, a bit odd. Namely, they explained that for the accusation and, after all, for the sanctions to be implemented, even a newspaper article would be enough – in order to establish that someone is prone to corruption. You know what, you two gentlemen, Mr Kos and Mr Penko, you two speak in the exact same manner as Stane Dolanc did,” the former member of Rop’s government, Dimitrij Rupel, Ph.D., said.
Dr Dimitrij Rupel and Dr France Cukjati were recently the guests on the show Na tretjem (On the third channel), hosted by Igor Pirkovič. In a part of the show, they also touched on the decision of the CPC in the case of the President of the Court of Audit, Tomaž Vesel. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs from the government led by Anton Rop, Dr Dimitrij Rupel, talked about how the CPC was formed. Drago Kos, the first president of the CPC, and Boštjan Penko came to one of the government sessions at the time. At the session, they presented the idea of how to discredit individuals who are disruptive to the transitional network. According to them, “a newspaper article” would be enough for an indictment.
Rupel, as an excellent connoisseur of the former regime, quickly realised that something in Kos and Penko’s presentation was not as it should be. That is why he told both of them that we are now living in a democratic country, and what they are talking about is much more reminiscent of Stane Dolanc’s methods. “I refuse to listen to your babbling any longer. In a way, this babbling was then embodied in our Commission for the Prevention of Corruption,” the former Minister in several of the Slovenian governments was critical.
“This is a scandal of global proportions. Even the cows are laughing at us,” the former Minister commented on the CPC’s decision in the Vesel case In recent days, the decision of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, which washed away any blame of corruption of the President of the Court of Audit Tomaž Vesel, caused quite a stir in the Slovenian public. He found himself being investigated by the CPC due to his “afternoon” work at FIFA, where he earns 246 thousand dollars gross annually. The problem is, however, that neither the CPC nor Tomaž Vesel wants to admit that FIFA is a company that performs a gainful activity. We have also proven this in our media outlet, as in the case of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is clearly stated that FIFA is engaged in gainful activity.
Rupel was also surprised by Vesel’s case and the fact that his guilt was simply washed away by the CPC. The former professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences claims that, in his opinion, the CPC proved that it has no standards and essentially no legitimacy with its decision in Vesel’s case. The long-term Slovenian diplomat is not all that surprised that such a decision was made. “This Commission is worthless.”
In Vesel’s case, he also stated that he finds it difficult to support a government official who “is in charge of financial matters. Basically, in charge of financial morality. To try and claim that Vesel’s earnings, which amount to 246 thousand dollars gross, are not actually earnings and that this is not a gainful activity – this is a scandal of global proportions. Even the cows are laughing at us,” Dr Dimitrij Rupel commented on the CPC and the Vesel case.
Luka Perš
