“In addition to the Prešiček affair, other tragic cases of harassment at work are also worth mentioning. Former editor-in-chief of the Slovenian Press Agency (Slovenska tiskovna agencija – hereinafter referred to as the STA) Borut Meško died of cancer, and the STA director Bojan Veselinovič contributed to the development of the disease with his long-term twisted harassment,” journalist Nenad Glücks wrote in an article for the Reporter magazine two years ago.
In recent days, the public has gotten quite upset due to the unresolved issue between the STA and the Government Communication Office. In addition to the fact that the STA director Bojan Veselinovič insists that he is not in the wrong and does not want to send the required documentation to the director of the Government Communication Office, Uroš Urbanija, the tragic story of the former STA editor-in-chief Borut Meško was also recently highlighted on the show Tarča (Target) and on Twitter. Namely, Prime Minister Janez Janša and Urbanija believe that Veselinovič is partially responsible for Meško’s disease, which later led to his death.
Veselinovič denied the allegations in order to try to defend himself, and he also sent Janša and Urbanija a reprimand before a lawsuit. However, new details about what was going on at the time of Meško’s dismissal have come to light. Veselinovič was selected for the position of STA director by the government of Borut Pahor. As a result, political pressure was allegedly exerted on the agency, and then the then-editor-in-chief of the STA, Meško, received a notice of dismissal and termination of employment due to culpable reasons.
The then-president of the Association of Journalists and Publicists, Igor Kršinar, believes that political pressure was being exerted. He accused Pahor’s government of exerting political pressure, for which Pahor is responsible. Months passed, and in his job, Meško kept receiving countless reprimands for alleged violations and even a threat of termination of employment, which was also monitored by Urbanija at the time, who is still critical of Veselinovič’s actions.
Meško publicly spoke about Veselinovič’s harassment and pressuring
“Veselinovič uses all possible ways, pressures and forms of harassment, with no means being off-limit in order for him to achieve his goals. He is willing to do anything to get me to leave the position of editor-in-chief as soon as possible,” Meško warned at the time. He later fell ill with cancer, and at the time, he also received the termination of his employment contract.
Glücks believes that with his harassment, Veselinovič also contributed to the development of cancer, which later led to Meško’s death
In the wake of the affair that erupted at the Ministry of Culture, when former Minister Dejan Prešiček was found to be harassing his employees, the media also highlighted Meško’s story. “In addition to the Prešiček affair, other tragic cases of harassment at work are also worth mentioning. Former editor-in-chief of the Slovenian Press Agency Borut Meško died of cancer, and the STA director Bojan Veselinovič contributed to the development of the disease with his long-term twisted harassment,” journalist Nenad Glücks wrote in an article for the Reporter magazine two years ago.
Meško later died of cancer, but the rumours did not subside. Despite the fact that the allegations of harassment and settling of the score are growing louder, Veselinovič persistently denies any wrongdoing. He even says that he did not even know about Meško’s illness.
Sara Rančigaj
