The content of the letter that was sent to Prime Minister Robert Golob by Minister of the Interior, Tatjana Bobnar, reveals the facts about the political pressures she witnessed in the police. In the letter, she pointed out that she cannot do her job properly if she cannot put together a team that she trusts and that is professional. “Your decision not to follow my proposal to appoint Boštjan Lindav is unprecedented in the history of the Police,” she said, accusing the Prime Minister of “wanting to depoliticise the police by politicising it.” She will also report the allegations of political pressure to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Slovenia.
The resignation of Interior Minister Tatjana Bobnar was almost expected. Bobnar decided not to bow to the pressure of Prime Minister Robert Golob, who wanted to “purge” all the staff in the police from the time of the Janša government in a despicable way, and therefore, Bobnar is resigning. In her letter, she accused Golob of politically pressuring her through his publicist Vesna Vuković, and of pressuring the police, for which she said his behaviour was “unprecedented in the history of the Police” and revealed his plan of the constantly emphasised “depoliticisation” that Golob had been referring to all along. But it turned out to be just the opposite of what he claims, as “Golob wants to depoliticise the police by politicising it,” Bobnar wrote in her letter.
Bobnar began her letter by saying that she and her team had acted in accordance with the Constitution since taking office and had acted in accordance with their oath of office, too. Their goal upon taking office was to restore professionalism and independence and to restore confidence in the police. She pointed to recent public opinion surveys, which indicated that they had largely succeeded in doing so. She also stressed that, in order to successfully continue the work and the many projects that have been set up, it is essential to ensure continuous and highly professional leadership of the police.
A historic precedent
“Saying that Lindav will only receive a mandate if he cleans the police of certain people based on political criteria and expectations of a political party and the Prime Minister is political pressuring of the Acting Director-General of the Police,” Bobnar was clear in her message, citing Article 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, which protects people from arbitrary decisions of the authorities. She criticised the Prime Minister’s unprecedented opposition to her proposal to appoint Lindav to the post of Director-General of the Police for a full term. “In my opinion, it also constitutes an obstacle to the effective development of the system,” she said, adding that the same applies to the appointment of Slavko Koroš to the post of Director of the Police and Security Directorate. In her opinion, the proposal for the appointment of the latter was also rejected without clear explanations. The Slovenian public has come to know him these days as the public face of an apparently biased report on the supervision of the work of police officers during the violent protests of the 20th of May 2021.
Golob’s public relations representative pressured Bobnar
In the continuation of the letter, Bobnar pointed out that she had also been pressured by Golob’s PR representative, Vesna Vuković, who, in a certain situation, had suggested to her that “someone” in the police was not doing their job as they should, but Bobnar explained that she had not detected any indicators that anyone was not doing their job.
Golob wanted Lindav to violate the Constitution in order to get a full mandate
In her letter to the Prime Minister, Bobnar also said that “the depoliticisation of the police will not be achieved by simply demolishing what the police had become under the previous government.” She revealed that Golob had given her an ultimatum that Lindav would only get a full mandate if he violated Article 14 of the Constitution, which clearly states that “everyone is guaranteed equal human rights, regardless of nationality, race, sex, language, religion or political opinion.” “Democratisation and depoliticisation of the police is not a matter of changing individual faces in the police. It is a gradual, slow and, above all, professional process. This cannot be achieved by approaches that initially led to its politicisation.”
Golob wants to depoliticise the police by politicising it
Bobnar also stressed that politicisation does not mean that there are people within the police who have certain political views, but that there are structural conditions present that could cause the police to bow to the authorities, or for the authorities to be able to abuse the police for their own political purposes: “This is the core of our disagreement.” In her view, the police should carry out democratisation from within, “starting from its own professional and legal principles.” She believes that she has been deprived of the possibility of using her actions to consolidate the reputation of the rule of law in our country. This is also why she has decided to resign.
We are publishing Tatjana Bobnar’s letter in its entirety below.
“Dear Mr Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Robert Golob,
Following your request from our meeting on the 5th of December 2022 on political pressures, I am hereby sending you the following explanation:
As the Minister of the Interior, I swore to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law and to act in accordance with my conscience and in the best interests of the people of the Republic of Slovenia. My team and I have acted accordingly throughout our time in office, with a sincere desire to justify the public’s trust in the work of our department. When I took office, my team and I set ourselves the goal of restoring professionalism and independence and trust in the police. We have largely succeeded in doing so, as evidenced by the latest public opinion poll, which showed a significant jump in trust in the police. We have made key normative changes, carried out inspections of the police work during the protests during the previous government’s term in office, carried out justified personnel changes within the Police and the Ministry of the Interior in accordance with the law, carried out several audits of controversial projects and informed the competent state authorities of the findings, and the list goes on. The democratisation of the police, its strict respect for human rights and its orientation towards the local community, towards the people it serves, have been the premise of our work. As the Minister of the Interior, I am fully committed to doing my job legally and professionally, and I expect the same from all employees, especially the police. Just over two years ago, we witnessed the excessive and disproportionate use of force by the police at the protests in Ljubljana. I would like to stress that my team and I have done everything in my power and competence to ensure that such humiliating police practices never happen again. We have therefore fulfilled everything that we promised the public and were able to do by ourselves at the Ministry.
But a continued, expert and highly professional leadership of the police is essential for the successful continuation of our work and the many projects we have set ourselves. Your decision to not accept my proposal to appoint Boštjan Lindav, MSc, for a full term as Director-General of the Police is unprecedented in the history of the police and, in my opinion, constitutes an obstacle to the effective development of the system. The same applies to the appointment of Slavko Koroš to the post of Director of the Police and Security Directorate.
Statements in the media from the ranks of the Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda) and a text message from the PR representative of the Freedom Movement party, Ms Vesna Vukovič, sent to me on Saturday, the 29th of October 2022, that the posters of the Freedom Movement party were torn and that they did not know if they should report it to the police or not, because they know who is in charge of the Police Department of Nova Gorica (to which I replied that there is no indication that this person would not do his job professionally), and also your position (expressed during our conversation on the 10th of November 2022, why Lindav would not be appointed for a full term and why his status as an Acting Director-General would only be extended as a kind of additional probationary period, despite the assessment of the Council of Officials that he was suitable for the role and fulfilled all the required conditions), that the appointment did not happen because Director-General of the Police Lindav and I have not lived up to your expectations of cleaning up the police force, constitutes political pressure on the Acting Director-General of the Police in the sense that he would only be given a full mandate if he “cleans up” the police of certain people, based on the political criteria and expectations of the political party and the Prime Minister. Bearing in mind that the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia clearly states in Article 14 that everyone is guaranteed equal human rights, regardless of nationality, race, gender, language, religion or political opinion, which is also a key civilisational asset that protects people from the arbitrary decisions of the authorities that we witnessed during the previous government’s term.
That is why Lindav and I made a statement in Tacen that politics must end at the door of the Director-General of the Police and that I cannot do my job as Minister of the Interior if I cannot put together a team that I trust and that is professional. Namely, on the 17th of November 2022, without a clear explanation of the reasons from you, the appointment of Slavko Koroš as Director of the Police and Security Directorate was also rejected (with the indication that I might have someone else in that position), but someone else clearly wants to make this decision for me, and that is why the Acting Director-General Lindav also explained that he has carried out all labour procedures and actions within the police in accordance with the law, not according to the expectations of politicians, and that is how it will remain.
As a Minister, I want to work with a team that I can choose myself, based on my knowledge of its expertise and in which I have confidence. To deny me this opportunity and to suggest I make a different choice is, in my view, a form of political pressure. I have already mentioned other pressures to you in our last conversation on Monday, the 5th of December 2022. I would like to explain to you again that political pressures also include conditioning staff changes, opposing promotions or dismissals.
I have been in the police long enough to be aware that the tendency to control an institution that has a monopoly on physical coercion is ever-present in those in power. This is not unusual even in societies organised on the principles of multiparty democracy. A democratic police force that operates solely on the basis of law and expertise is a prerequisite for the freedom of the people. If the police abuse their powers and act illegally or even violently, they are turning people away from democracy – brutally letting them know that they cannot be active agents in a democratic society in which they could participate according to their will, wishes and expectations, but are merely objects of the state’s overbearing behaviour.
The previous government did a lot of damage to the police, subjecting them to having to follow orders and do tasks of questionable legality, to abuse their powers over people who protested, to punish them for expressing their opinions and organising. As a result, the reputation of the police fell drastically, people’s freedom was threatened, and the people resisted, not least by electing a government that promised them real freedom.
The new government must keep in mind the fact that the depoliticisation of the police will not be achieved simply by tearing down what the police became under the previous government (the so-called purge of those in the police force who are supposedly sympathetic to a particular political option). Depoliticisation can be achieved primarily by building new democratic processes within the police. Only these can guarantee that the police will work for the people, professionally, lawfully and with respect for human rights, regardless of which government is in charge at any given time.
My view is that the democratisation and depoliticisation of the police are not a matter of replacing individual faces in the police. It is a gradual, slow and, above all, professional process which the police themselves must carry out. The depoliticisation of the police cannot be tackled with approaches that initially led to its politicisation. The politicisation of the police does not mean that within the police, there are people with certain political views, but that there are structural conditions present that could cause the police to bow to the authorities, or for the authorities to be able to abuse the police for their own political purposes. This is the core of our disagreement.
The police must democratise from within, based on their own professional and legal principles; democratisation cannot be imposed from outside or from above. The police, therefore, need, among other things, stable leadership with a clear democratic vision. A full-time Director-General of the Police, who is not in a state of uncertainty about his future position, is a key guarantee for the democratisation of the police and for resisting its politicisation. As such, he or she is a symbol of the independence and autonomy of the police. Therefore, I believe that the political decision not to have stable leadership for a longer period of time is actually an attempt to destabilise the police and to create the conditions for them to become obedient to politics (again). I am, therefore, not only opposed to individual attempts to influence the police, but I am in favour of creating the structural conditions which ensure that the police are no longer a tool of politics. The precedent that, despite the proven professional credentials of a proposed candidate for Director-General of the Police, the political authorities could reject him, without justification, arbitrarily, seemingly on a whim, is dangerous, and I cannot accept it.
As is clear from what I have written, I am firmly of the belief that every action that is taken must strengthen the reputation of the rule of law and strengthen the integrity of the civil service, because we are committed to the people. I believe that I have been deprived of this opportunity, and I have therefore taken the decision to inform you in writing of my resignation as Minister of the Interior in the coming days, upon my return from my business trip. It is true that we have quite different understandings of political pressures, as well as different views on the process of depoliticising the police.
At the same time, I would like to inform you that, in accordance with Article 13 of the Organisation and Work of the Police Act, Acting Director-General of the Police, Boštjan Lindav, MSc, has sent me the information on political pressures in the police, which you have asked him for directly. I am forwarding his explanation below.
Regardless of everything, I will continue to do my utmost to ensure the professional and human resources independence of the police and strict respect for human rights and the rule of law in general.
Tatjana Bobnar, MSc
Minister of the Interior”
Tanja Brkić
