This morning, a security camera at the home of television presenter Boris Tomašič filmed two police cars and a van. The first one drove into his yard, while the van – also known as the patrol wagon – apparently blocked the driveway leading to the yard of the house, at least that’s how it seemed from the footage. “This is harassment,” pointed out the world record holder for the longest marathon television talk show.
“The police just came to my home with a patrol wagon. When asked what they came here for, they said they made a mistake and left. Police, this is harassment. On Wednesday, you knew exactly what my address was,” Tomašič wrote on social network X, adding a video from his camera that shows the police vehicle on his driveway, which can be viewed here: pic.twitter.com/H2w8Gvzizu
This is the second visit by the police in less than seven days. On Wednesday, the 29th of May, Tomašič’s home and the premises of the media outlet Nova24TV, which he is the Director of, were raided by the police, who confiscated his mobile phone and computer, despite the fact that he is not a suspect in a case under investigation, nor is Nova24TV.
The host of the show “Kdo vam laže” (“Who is lying to you”) once again called on the New Slovenia party (Nova Slovenija – NSi), whose MP Janez Žakelj heads the Commission for Supervision of the Intelligence and Security Services (KNOVS), to finally carry out an audit of the police. The Commission later rejected his request, replying that it had no legal competence to do so – despite the fact that such inspections have already been carried out in the past.
Strong reactions from the international public
The raid was met with strong reactions from the international community. In a press release, the International Democracy Union (IDU) expressed profound concern over what happened and added that it was a clear manifestation of political intimidation and revenge. The Centrist Democrat International (CDI) compared what was happening in Slovenia to what was happening in Venezuela at the time when the socialist Hugo Chavez came to power. They warned that if there is no response, this method will spread throughout Europe.
The President of the European People’s Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, also responded to what happened, saying: “No government in the European Union should ever punish any media outlet for presenting an opposing point of view. The EPP will not tolerate the abuse of justice for political purposes. We call on the European Commission to urgently investigate the case and protect media freedom and the rule of law in Slovenia.”
And Edvard Kadič, Slovenian political analyst, noted that this is a wakeup call. “We are now deep in a totalitarian regime. So deep that most of the citizens do not even realise it, similarly to how a fish does not detect the water in which it swims. The real question is – did we ever even leave the totalitarian system?”
The scope of police activity seems to be expanding, especially in Slovenia.
Janša highlights double standards
Meanwhile, the President of the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS), Janez Janša, has already responded to the morning visit to Tomašič’s home. “This morning, a police car drove into the yard of Boris Tomašič’s house and frightened his wife. The police replied that they had made a “mistake”. What would have been the reaction of the “informed public” if the police had “mistakenly” driven up to Veselinović like that during the mandate of the previous government?” the opposition leader wondered.
Ž. K.
