The mandate of the current Human Rights Ombudsman, Peter Svetina, will soon be over, and the President of the Republic is now planning to nominate Katarina Bervar Sternad, Director of the NGO PIC – the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment and a member of the women’s organisation “ONA VE” – “She Knows,” a pool for leftist female executives, of which President Nataša Pirc Musar and Speaker of the National Assembly Urška Klakočar Zupančič are also members, to be the new ombudsman.
Nataša Pirc Musar first rewarded Katarina Bervar Sternad shortly after she took office as President, as Bervar Sternad received the first award from the President of the Republic in the field of free legal aid or human rights. Now, Pirc Musar will reward her friend again.
Bervar Sternad has been a strong supporter of illegal migration throughout the years. She “proved herself” as a leader in the so-called non-governmental organisation the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment in 2019; in the following years, we heard less about her, and now Nataša Pirc Musar has put new wind in her sails. All of this is an indication of the direction things will take in the future.
Let us also recall that Pirc Musar has so far also gained fame for having pardoned at least four migrant smugglers. We assume that this is also in agreement with her friend from the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment and the organisation “She Knows,” the association for networking of women professionals and promoting knowledge, as they present themselves.
She admitted to the abuse of asylum procedures
Katarina Bervar Sternad admitted on Television Slovenia that most people cannot “enter any European country legally” – via border crossings – so they do so illegally, throwing away their identification documents because it makes it easier to apply for asylum. In other words, if they told the truth about which country they come from and who they really are, the Slovenian security authorities would return them to the country they came from. At least, that used to be the case, but under the current government of Prime Minister Golob, that is also changing.
Bervar Sternad has thus indirectly admitted to the abuse of the asylum procedure. And the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, under her leadership, is helping them do so. She also confirmed that the staff in the NGO already instruct migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina on what to do when they cross Slovenia’s southern border.
The fact that illegal migrants have very good instructions on the route to take to get to Slovenia has long been pointed out by police officers and residents along Slovenia’s southern border.
Instructing the police and threatening to press charges against them
Bervar Sternad first became known to the public in connection with what happened at the Črnomelj Police Station. The minutes of the said Police Station show that Bervar Sternad introduced herself to the police there as the director of the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment and said that they had received a call from foreigners located in the area of the Črnomelj Police Station. She explained to the police that the migrants were located near the settlement of Učakovci and that they all wished to apply for international protection.
She then sent a “GPS location of the migrants’ whereabouts” to the officer on duty’s phone and, at the same time sent it to the Črnomelj Police Station e-mail. In the e-mail, she provided the names and birth data of four Afghans. They were subsequently arrested by police officers in Učakovci near house No 12.
In the e-mail, Bervar Sternad further threatened the police officers “that if the foreigners were to be returned to Croatia, she would file criminal charges against the police officers.”
The report of the Črnomelj Police Station also states that “when stating their reasons for international protection, they state that they are applying for international protection in Slovenia because they were advised to do so by representatives of NGOs from the Republic of Slovenia who visited them in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
The migrants also said that representatives of NGOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina had given them instructions on what to do when they arrived on the territory of the Republic of Slovenia, so that they would not be returned to Croatia. The migrants also handed a copy of the instructions to the police officers during the police procedure.
The leaflet contains precise instructions and the contact telephone numbers of the NGOs Slovenian Philanthropy, Association ODNOS and the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment.
Similar events took place at the Ilirska Bistrica Police Station. The official bookmark shows that in July, at the camp in Velika Kladuša, a migrant contacted the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment NGO. The camp was visited by “Andrej and an unidentified woman who introduced herself as the lawyer of the aforementioned NGO.” They explained to the migrant how to apply for asylum and, at the same, time offered him free legal assistance in obtaining asylum status in Slovenia. They gave him a telephone number, through which he communicated with them on WhatsApp. He told the police that he had been in contact with the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment all the time. He said that before they left Bosnia and Herzegovina, he had to provide the NGO with information about the persons travelling with him. He was told by the NGO that their path would not be difficult, as the police would arrest them when they crossed the Croatian-Slovenian border, adding that he should also keep them informed of the police procedure.
If the police were to not accept their asylum application, he was told to inform them immediately so that “the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment will take action against the police.”
The official record of the Črnomelj Police Station from August 2018 reads as follows:
“On the 21st of August 2018, at 7:19 p.m., Katarina Bervar Sternad called the Police Station Črnomelj and introduced herself as the Director of the Legal Information Centre of Non-Governmental Organisations – PIC, adding that she was called by foreigners who are in the area of the Črnomelj Police Station, near the village of Učakovci, and want to submit a request for international protection. Furthermore, she sent the GPS location of the foreigners to the cell phone of one of the police officers, and sent an e-mail address of the Črnomelj Police Station. In the e-mail, she forwarded the information (names and surnames) and nationality of the persons in question.
At 7:55 p.m., police officers detained four Afghani nationals in the village of Učakovci, near house number 12. In the e-mail, Bervar Sternad also warned police officers that she would file a criminal complaint against the police officers should the foreigners be returned to Croatia.
During the police procedure, it was established that two of the four persons detained are minors. Therefore, the on-call representative of the Centre for Social Work Novo mesto, was present during the procedure. The procedure was conducted with the help of a translator, and all four foreigners requested international protection. The persons stated that they left their home country of Afghanistan because of the state the country is in, and that their end destination is France. When stating the reasons for requesting international protection, they said that they were told to request international protection in Slovenia by representatives of non-governmental organisations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, the representatives of Slovenian NGOs handed out instructions to migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina on how to get to Slovenia and what to do in order to avoid being returned to the Republic of Croatia. The migrants then handed over the said instructions to the police officers. The instructions explain how to behave upon entering the Republic of Slovenia and how to avoid being returned to Croatia, and the flyer also includes contact numbers for various NGOs – including the Slovenian Philanthropy, the Association ODNOS and the NGO Legal Information Centre – PIC.
After the procedure was concluded, the persons were taken to the Asylum Centre in Ljubljana.
In the attached document, we are sending the scanned instructions in English, and the e-mail sent to us by Katarina Bervar Sternad, for which we believe is not in line with the current legislation. We ask that you look over the documents in question.”
Similar events took place at the Ilirska Bistrica Police Station.
The official record of the Ilirska Bistrica Police Station from August 2018 reads as follows:
“The interview was conducted in the official premises of the llirska Bistrica Police Station in Arabic language, with the assistance of an Arabic translator.
In the interview, the foreigner stated that in July, in a camp in Velika Kladuša, he came into contact with the NGO the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, namely with a person named Andrej and a woman unknown to him, who introduced herself as a lawyer from the said NGO.
In a conversation with both of them, he was told how to apply for asylum, and they offered him free legal assistance in obtaining asylum status in the Republic of Slovenia. They gave him the phone number +38640504626, through which he communicated with them on the WhatsApp application. The migrant said that he has been in contact with the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment throughout this whole time, most recently on the 11th of August 2018 at 1.44 a.m. The migrant said that before they left Bosnia and Herzegovina, he had to provide the NGO with the details of the persons travelling with him. He also said that he was advised that it would not be difficult for the police to arrest them when crossing the state border between Croatia and Slovenia and that he should inform the NGO about the procedure at the police. In the event that the police would not accept the application for international protection, he was told to inform the NGO immediately, so that action could be taken against the police. The foreigner refused to say whether the person from the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment had also advised him where to cross the state border between Croatia and Slovenia. “
To conclude, for her “philanthropy” in helping illegal migrants, Katarina Bervar Sternad will apparently be rewarded with the post of Human Rights Ombudsman. It is not difficult to guess where this will take our country.
Moja Dolenjska
