President Nataša Pirc Musar’s controversial choice of candidates for the State Prosecutorial Council has caused quite a stir in the Slovenian public in recent days. Among them are Zvonko Fišer, who allegedly prosecuted priests under communism, and the former human rights ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer, who supported the controversial removal of the Carinthian boys from their grandparents.
The President of the Republic, Nataša Pirc Musar, sent the National Assembly a list of candidates for the State Prosecutorial Council. Following her nominations, the National Assembly selects four candidates from a list of five. The five candidates are Samo Bardutzky, Zvonko Fišer, Mitja Jelenič Novak, Vlasta Nussdorfer and Ivan Žaberl. The elections are scheduled for the 23rd of November, and that is when eight members of the Council will be elected, four of whom are elected by the prosecutors among themselves and do not have managerial functions, and four of whom are elected by the National Assembly, based on the proposal of the President of the Republic, the Slovenian Press Agency reports.
They are supposedly all considered to be legal experts. The State Prosecutorial Council is composed of nine members. Four are elected by the public prosecutors, one is appointed by the Minister of Justice, and four are elected by the National Assembly on the proposal of the President, who had been collecting proposals up until the 15th of September. The elected members have a term of office of six years. They cannot be immediately re-elected once their term of office has expired. The current set of mandates expires on the 18th of December. The choice of some of the candidates, however, seems controversial.
Fischer prosecuted priests in the 1970s!
This is undoubtedly true in the case of Fišer, who became famous for his prosecution of priests in the 1970s and 1980s under the former Yugoslavian regime. Among other things, he prosecuted two priests who erected a cross on the site of the communist massacre in Cerkno. The priests in question were Janez Lapajne and Stanislav Medvešček, who, in 1975, together with Amalia Jereb, commemorated the place of death of many innocent victims with dignity. Their only fault was erecting a cross on the spot where the locals from Cerkno were killed. We have sent a press question about the President’s proposal to her office and are awaiting a reply. Fišer is also known for his involvement in the quasi-affair Patria, which later fell in the Constitutional Court.
Nussdorfer was involved in the abduction of the Carinthian boys
The President’s choice of Vlasta Nussdorfer is also quite controversial. She is most famous for her role in the notorious case of the abduction of the Carinthian boys. As Ombudsman, she declared that the social workers of the Centre for Social Work Velenje had not violated the rights of the two boys, who were abducted by the Centre in kindergarten, taken away from their grandparents and placed in a foster family. She is also known for other bizarre incidents, such as a visit by the great human rights violator Vladimir Putin. She has also publicly fought against protecting the country’s borders from illegal immigrants.
Meanwhile, Bardutzky will be remembered for his involvement in suing Slovenia abroad over alleged breaches of democratic standards during the government of Janez Janša, joining the controversial “political journalist” Blaž Zgaga (a journalist who, thanks to his success in slamming Janša’s government, was lucky enough to continue his career under the umbrella of the Social Democrats party – SD).
Domen Mezeg
