Following the high-profile testimony of former Minister of the Interior Tatjana Bobnar before the National Assembly’s Commission of Inquiry for determining the potential political responsibility of holders of public office with regard to the alleged inadmissible political interference in the work of the Police, the latter are now conducting pre-trial proceedings. However, they did not disclose more than that “in the interest of the investigation” but will inform the prosecutor’s office of relevant findings after all the information has been gathered.
Following Monday’s statements by former Minister of the Interior Tatjana Bobnar before the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry that she had been pressured by Prime Minister Robert Golob regarding police staffing, the Ljubljana Police Directorate announced that pre-trial proceedings had been initiated in connection to the case in question.
As previously reported, former Minister Tatjana Bobnar testified on Monday before the National Assembly’s Commission of Inquiry, which is investigating inadmissible political interference in the work of the Police and other competent state bodies, that Robert Golob had demanded from her actions that she believed to be inadmissible and unacceptable, as he had directly interfered in police staffing.
Are pre-trial proceedings being conducted by the “depoliticised” police force?
According to a post published by former Interior Minister Vinko Gorenak, former Interior Minister Bobnar and former Acting Director-General of the Police Boštjan Lindav, at the meeting of the National Assembly’s Commission of Inquiry, filed criminal charges against Prime Minister Robert Golob under Articles 261 and 262 of the Criminal Code, which is why we have addressed two questions to the police, related to this situation. Are the police aware of the disclosures made in the National Assembly, and are they dealing with the disclosures made by its former and current officers in any way?
“In the interest of the investigation and in accordance with the provisions of the Personal Data Protection Act, which relate to specific and identifiable natural persons, we can only confirm that pre-trial proceedings are currently underway. After all the information has been gathered, the competent public prosecutor’s office will be informed of the findings,” the Ljubljana Police Directorate said in its response to our questions.
The criminal complaint has not yet been received; they are following all relevant information
We were also interested in the police’s reaction to the former Interior Minister’s revelations concerning the alleged interference of the Prime Minister in the work of the intelligence and security services. The Prime Minister reportedly requested a delay in the arrest of a pair of Russian spies so that their arrest would not overshadow the government’s victory in the triple referendum. Former Minister and former Acting Director-General of the Police were said to have testified to this during the closed session of the Commission of Inquiry, because of which a session of the Commission for the Supervision of the Intelligence and Security Services (KNOVS) has now been scheduled. When asked whether the police were aware of this and whether any proceedings were being pursued in this regard, they replied: “We have learned of the alleged irregularities that were disclosed yesterday during the closed session from media reports, and we will follow up on the received information. We have not yet received a criminal complaint from a state body that has actual knowledge of the proceedings and the statements made,” the Ljubljana Police Directorate said.
T. B.
