“The left-wing strategists have clearly decided that in order to win next year’s elections, they have no choice but to imprison the innocent Janez Janša again, just as they did in 2014,” noted Aleš Primc, who was also the head of the Committee 2014 (Odbor 2014) that protested Janša’s imprisonment at the time. Gorazd Pučnik also believes this “witch hunt” is pointless, while lawyer Andrej Fink reiterated that it is a political construct, and he added that he has been wondering how to present it to the public so that they will finally see the truth.
Today, the Celje court is scheduled to deliver its final judgement on the “Trenta” case, which means that the case is ready for a verdict. At the same time, a mass protest rally called “Continuing the resistance against the crooked judiciary” will take place in front of the court at noon, which is expected to be the biggest gathering before the court so far.
Constitutional lawyer Dr Andrej Fink believes that in a true democracy, people should not gather in front of the courts to protest against judges. Judges should, in theory, have integrity and be impartial. But in our country, he believes, things are different – in fact, it is practically the opposite. He even thinks that in the case of Trenta, we are seeing a completely made-up construct, but the problem arises in proving this to the European public.
The case is also worrying, he says, because if Janša is convicted, it means that it could happen to practically anyone – “clearly, it could happen to anyone who would be a danger to the other side, and even more so to the little man, because the public would not even find out about it,” he pointed out, adding that Janša is also a thorn in the side of the authorities because of the upcoming referendum, announced for the 11th of May. “They are furious because they might lose it, and now they are pushing for this.”
The lawyer noted that such protests would not happen in a healthy democracy, but that “our democracy is not healthy, and that is the problem. It is unhealthy because it is somehow conditioned by those old forces,” he concluded.
Pučnik: This is corrosive to our society
Gorazd Pučnik, son of the important fighter for Slovenian independence and dissident Jože Pučnik, said that this was a long-standing story about which he had expressed his opinion on several occasions already. He believes it is absurd that the case is still going on. “I am saddened by this repetition, because I see that the level of this political dispute, although legitimate, is extremely low,” he said. He went on to quote the well-known prosecutor Giovanni Falcone, who said that “the accusation must be clear and, if possible, irrefutable.” In a society where an institution is suing someone, people often think that there must be something serious about it, but, as Falcone said, the accusation must be clear and irrefutable, as this contributes to the value of the state; and if the opposite is true, such accusations can be corrosive to society, he explained.
Pučnik also noted he has “lost count” of the number of times Janša has been sued and then actually charged, and believes that the court uses slander, leading to arguments and a public opinion that someone is simply “bad”. When asked whether a parallel could be drawn between Jože Pučnik and Janez Janša, in the sense that both were persecuted because they were in some way resisting the “socialist” regime, Pučnik says that this applies only partially, because democracy has since emerged, which should not allow such parallelism. Nevertheless, he often wonders who actually contributes to this situation. He doesn’t know what the difference is compared to the period when Janša went to prison, when he was clearly convicted without a real opportunity to defend himself, but noted that in the past, the debates were long and more direct.
Finally, he noted that today, things happen in a more perfidious way. “In the past, things used to at least be direct, whereas now they can be more complicated. None of this has anything to do with the current government; it is a pattern that repeats itself in our system,” he said, adding that one of the disadvantages of this situation for democracy is that it is often blamed for the same things. He explained that if the process is not over, the authorities can continue to use the same methods. Pučnik said that, given the current situation, it seems that the current government is not all that popular anymore, and that everything is repeating itself, as has happened many times in the past. “I hope that we can learn from past experiences,” he concluded.
Primc: The target of the operation is not Janša, the target is ordinary people
Meanwhile, the head of the Committee 2014, which was set up at the very time of the Patria judicial construct, noted that the left-wing strategists have decided that in order to win next year’s elections, they have no choice but to once again imprison Janez Janša, as they did in 2014, and that in order to do so, they are abusing the prosecution and the judiciary, which will cause great misery for the Janša family, especially for his children and his wife Urška. He also pointed out that the real target of this operation is not the Janša family, but ordinary people, as their pensions, property, security and health are at stake, and therefore, he also pointed out the following:
“They want to ensure another four years of access to the budget, which is our money, for their own interests. And here, just like in 2014, Janez Janša is in their way. We all need to know that. The left and the right. An attack on Janez Janša is an attack on our wallets, our pensions, our security and our health. And therefore, you are all invited to attend the rally in front of the Celje Court at noon!”
Tanja Brkić
