The Nova24TV editorial office received a photo in which, among others, there is also police officer Darko Pehan, posing with a red star on his Titovka cap. This seems to be another in a series of examples of employees in state institutions worshipping the symbols of the totalitarian regime even 30 years after the break-up of communist Yugoslavia.
On Monday, the 27th of September 2021, on Nova24TV, we reported that the president of the Slovenian Trade Union of Police Officers, Kristjan Mlekuš, likes to reminisce about communist times. Namely, he published a photo on social media, in which he is posing with a child who is dressed as Tito’s pioneer, wearing a red star on his Titovka cap.
As it turns out, Mlekuš’s colleague Darko Pehan has similar nostalgic feelings towards the failed totalitarian communist regime. Namely, we received a photo in the Nova24TV editorial office, which shows Pehan posing, dressed in what looks like a pioneer’s uniform, with a dark-coloured Titovka cap, on which there is also the red star.
The situation is not much better in the judiciary
However, it is not only the police trade unionists and employees who like to reminisce about Yugoslavia even 30 years after its break-up in independent Slovenia. The pioneer uniform with a Titovka cap and the red star is also very popular in the judiciary. One of the people who still appreciate the symbols of the previous totalitarian system is the District Judge from Ljubljana, Vesna Pavlič Pivk, for whom the red star is appropriately subject to special criteria. As we already reported in April 2021, the former president of the District Court in Ljubljana found herself involved in a scandal in the autumn of 2020 due to the alleged misuse of a company car for private purposes. Despite Pavlič Pivk being subject to criminal proceedings, she was still able to perform her work at the District Court, though.
There really is a weird obsession with the worshipping of communist symbols present in Slovenia. This is all thanks to the successful indoctrination of the communist regime, which began with Tito’s pioneers’ club upon entering primary school. The bankrupt judge Matjaž Štok and vice-president of the Maribor court, Slavko Gazvoda, who attended the traditional meeting of supporters of the SD party in 2019 in Maribor, also confirm that the connection between the judicial and political branches is still very much alive. In a photo with MEP Milan Brglez, Gazvoda even posed in a T-shirt with a red star on it.
We asked the police, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Slovenian Trade Union of Police Officers for a comment on Pehan’s posing with a Titovka cap and the red star. The trade union already responded, telling us that Pehan is not a member of their union, and we are still waiting for the other institutions to respond.
Ivan Šokić
