The investigation of Prime Minister Robert Golob by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) has been stopped because he is the subject of a pre-trial investigation. Have the political networks done this in order to buy themselves time to “prepare the ground” for a new political deception?
The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, headed by Robert Šumi, announced on Monday that it is suspending the proceedings against Prime Minister Robert Golob, which it initiated in November 2023, on suspicion of breach of integrity in connection with a report on the alleged unauthorised exerting of pressure on former Minister of the Interior Tatjana Bobnar and other employees of the Interior Ministry. The suspension of the proceedings is said to be due to proceedings before the police and the prosecutor’s office.
However, this has opened speculation about the political motive behind the decision. As we know, the transitional left controls absolutely all institutions, including the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption. The police are controlled by ‘Golob’s’ people as well, which is why the confrontation between the old forces and Prime Minister Golob even happened in the first place, which then led to the proceedings before the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption.
By refusing to investigate further, the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption has left the power to proceed to Golob’s side, which will investigate its boss at its own pace. And what can be delayed can also be stopped.
Why is this important?
As we know, the networks that control our country, headed by the former boss of the Communist Party, Milan Kučan, gave up on the man that they appointed – Robert Golob – some time ago, and have since been frantically looking for his replacement – yet another new face to calm passions and discontent caused by the inaction and wrong moves of the current government for at least a short time, until the regular elections. Within these political-capital networks, it seems that the realisation has dawned that the situation is not yet ripe for Golob’s replacement, and so the proceedings before the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, which would surely have removed Golob from office, have been tactfully reversed. This bought them time to prepare the “ground” for a new political deception.
What the transition networks want least of all is early elections. At least until they bring to the public some new name that could unite the left. It is worth noting that the polls are currently not in favour of the ruling Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda), and if elections were held today, a coalition of centre-right parties would surely win. In the forthcoming European elections, however, the Social Democrats (Socialni demokrati – SD) would beat the Freedom Movement.
The full explanation from the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption reads as follows:
“The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (the Commission) wants to inform the public that it has had to suspend the investigation it is conducting against the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Robert Golob, as it is not in a position at this time to provide the person concerned with full access to the case file and thus with all procedural rights (for example, access to the file; the right to be heard on all allegations). The Commission will thus resume the proceedings as soon as possible, in the meantime carrying out the necessary procedural steps with the intention of bringing the proceedings to a conclusion as quickly as possible once the reasons for the suspension have ceased to exist.
In November 2023, the Commission informed the public that it had opened an investigation against the Prime Minister on the basis of perceived suspicions of a breach of integrity in connection with a report of alleged unauthorised pressure on the former Minister of the Interior, Tatjana Bobnar, and other employees of the Ministry of the Interior. As the Commission explained at the time, the person concerned has all the rights guaranteed in the investigation procedure in accordance with the provisions of the law, in particular, the provisions of the Integrity and Prevention of Corruption Act (ZIntPK) and the General Administrative Procedure Act (ZUP). Accordingly, the person concerned has the right of access to the file, which he has also requested through his attorney-at-law.
Access to the file is defined in Article 15c of the Integrity and Prevention of Corruption Act, according to which the right of access to the file shall be limited or denied if the Commission, on the basis of an opinion of the competent authority, assesses that this could jeopardise the interests of pre-trial, criminal or other judicial or supervisory proceedings. The Commission has therefore requested the opinion of the Specialised Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has indicated that disclosure of certain documentation in the file to the person concerned would harm the interests of the pre-trial proceedings.
On the basis of the comments received and a complete re-examination of the file on which the initiation of the investigation was based, the Commission adopted a decision to temporarily suspend the proceedings in question. The restriction of access to the entire file prevents the person concerned from enjoying all procedural rights, which is essential to ensure the lawfulness of the proceedings before the Commission. The importance of guaranteeing the rights of the persons concerned in the proceedings before the Commission has also been confirmed by the courts in the past (for example: the final report on the monitoring of the financial situation of the chairpersons of the parliamentary parties of 2013). The suspension order was also served to the person concerned, who did not lodge an administrative appeal against it within the statutory time-limit.
Proceedings before the police and the prosecutor’s office take precedence
The Commission is aware that public and political expectations of its work are high. However, although the Commission is an independent body, it must, in the conduct of its proceedings, take into account the interests of police and prosecutorial proceedings, which examine suspicions of criminal offences that the Commission is not competent to investigate. These proceedings, therefore, take precedence over those of the Commission.
At the same time, the Commission is aware of the importance of promptness in dealing with high-profile cases, especially when they concern suspected misconduct by top officials. Therefore, in the present case, despite the suspension of the proceedings, the Commission is taking urgent procedural steps to ensure that the proceedings will resume as soon as the reasons for the suspension no longer apply. In fact, in the notice of initiation of the investigation, before the suspension of the procedure, the Commission had already offered the person concerned several dates for an interview before the Commission. However, with the intention of resuming the procedure as soon as possible, the Commission sent a letter to the person concerned last week indicating a number of possible dates for an interview in the coming months, so that the procedure could be resumed without delay once the reasons for the suspension had expired. The Commission also asked the person concerned to suggest the persons (witnesses) he wished to be interviewed, together with the possible dates.
In view of the various speculations that have been made public in recent weeks in relation to this procedure, the Commission strongly rejects any suggestion that it is delaying or being inactive in this particular procedure, nor is the date of its decision in this or any other procedure in any way influenced by the elections or any other internal political factors. Irrespective of any external circumstances, the Commission will continue to carry out its work in a professional manner in this procedure, as it has done so far.”
M. P.
