“Why did the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy receive an award? Because we protect a democratic, open, solidarity-based society,” said the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy (Pravna mreža za varstvo demokracije), which was recently presented with the European Parliament’s European Citizens’ Prize 2022 at the European Union House. In response to the news, the left-wing non-governmental organisation the Institute of the 8th of March (Inštitut 8. marec) stressed that no one deserves the award more than the Legal Network, which had emerged in the biggest darkness and took the side of protecting solidarity and democracy. “Their steadfastness and empathy have protected many of us,” they added. And it’s true – among other things, they protected the “art” installation put on by Fotopub from the sinister forces of the law – which is something that, unfortunately, cannot be said for the victims of the sexual predators who worked at said Fotopub.
As we can read on their website, the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy has provided legal expertise to people who have contacted them – they mainly gave legal advice related to the measures adopted to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the epidemic, police harassment at public gatherings, and the exercise of other human rights and freedoms. On 18 occasions, the courts and the police have suspended offence proceedings on the basis of their requests for judicial redress, thus exempting individuals from paying fines. The Legal Network also monitored protests. In addition, together with media experts, they prepared the basis for amendments to the Radio-Television Slovenia Act. The amendments concern the governance, management and supervision of our national media outlet, Radio-Television Slovenia, and constitute the basis for its professional and pluralistic functioning, they said. In April, they lodged a complaint with the European Commission about alleged illegal state aid generated from public funds and given to the company N24TV d.d. It is therefore clear from the above where their activities are directed, and even more so where they are not directed.
“The Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy is an incredible community. It has emerged in the darkest of darkness and has taken a stand to defend solidarity and democracy. Their steadfastness and empathy have protected many of us,” said the Institute of the 8th of March, adding that no one deserves the award more than the Legal Network, which was then presented with the European Parliament’s European Citizens’ Prize 2022 in the European House on Friday. The accompanying ceremony was hosted by Radio Slovenia journalist Tatjana Pirc.
Candidates for the award can be nominated by Members of the European Parliament, individuals, groups and civil society organisations – and apparently, the Legal Network was nominated by citizens. The European Parliament emphasises the protection of democracy and the rule of law as fundamental values in the European Union. The Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy was founded in 2021 on these same values, reads the explanation for the award, adding: “Through its legal opinions, positions and calls, the Legal Network protects democratic, open, free and solidarity-based societies. In doing so, it contributes to strengthening the rule of law and safeguarding democracy. /…/ It has successfully built on its work through cross-border cooperation with polish and Hungarian colleagues facing similar challenges.”
“Making art is not an offence,” the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy argued a year ago when it was contacted by several artists who were fined 208 euros each for indecent behaviour for standing naked with bags on their heads in the window of the Fotopub gallery as part of the “Dihaj” (“Breathe”) art installation. The “artistic” action upset a passer-by, who called the police. With the help of a lawyer, they then filed a request for judicial protection, as “naked bodies demanding the right to live in the nude constitute a constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of artistic expression.” Artistic expression, they said, is protected by both the Slovenian Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights – even if it is shocking to some. Can we then also categorise tying drugged-up persons to a radiator as artistic expression, which is what the head curator at Fotopub allegedly did to his victims?
The Protection of Public Order Act defines what constitutes conduct unbecoming an individual or a group: namely, conduct that causes annoyance or upset or endangers an individual or a group, or where offensive words or actions damage the reputation of an individual or a group or of an official in the conduct of official business. Article 7 of the said act also states that a person who, in a public place, makes sexual advances, displays sexual organs or offers sexual favours in an intrusive manner and thereby annoys, disturbs or causes alarm or disgust to any person shall be liable to a fine. So, where is the line between artistic creation and the exhibition of sexual organs? Judging by the posts published by the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy, we can safely conclude that, for them, the only line is between “ours” and “yours.” Below, we have compiled some of their tweets that clearly show who their “protection of democracy” is directed against.
“it is illegal for the New Slovenia party (Nova Slovenija – NSi) to announce that it will oppose an amendment to the Family Code, which will be based on the Constitutional Court’s decision on same-sex marriage and adoption,” they wrote in July this year, adding that the Constitutional Court Act stipulates that its decisions are binding. But apparently, it is not illegal to disregard the will of the people that they express in referendums. Indeed, the amendments to the Family Code that were recently adopted by the National Assembly, following the Constitutional Court’s decision, were overwhelmingly rejected by voters in a referendum on the Family Code in 2015. And before that, a similar thing happened in another referendum in 2012.
In another tweet, they wrote that they had written to the District Public Prosecutor’s Office about the intolerant statements of Nova24TV. “These are statements made by a viewer and the presenter of the TV show, which we believe should be checked to see if there is any possibility that the unacceptable statements fulfil the legal elements of a criminal offence,” they explained, adding that if the Ljubljana Public Prosecutor’s Office were to decide that there were no grounds for criminal prosecution in the case of the statements made on the programme of Nova24TV, the Legal Network believes that the police should act preventively and increase the activities of this kind.
The Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy also took issue with Branko Grims, an MP from the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) and pointed out that his claims in the article published by the N1 media outlet, entitled “Grims on Bobnar’s move: Slovenia is no longer a state governed by the rule of law” are false. At the time, Grims made it clear that he believed that the government of Robert Golob was trampling the Constitution with its first moves and accused Minister of the Interior, Tatjana Bobnar, of acting illegally and unconstitutionally by withdrawing her consent to the lawsuit for compensation for the costs of police protection at the unregistered protests against the previous government. The Legal Network, of course, disagreed with Grims’s accusations. They responded to Grims’s claim of the law being crystal clear when it comes to the matter – namely, if any special costs are incurred for the police, the organiser is obliged to pay them – by noting that the law is, indeed, crystal clear “because it explicitly provides for the obligation to reimburse the police only in the case of unregistered events, and not in the case of peaceful gatherings.” It should be noted that the organiser of a public gathering or public event is obliged to report it to the police – which did not happen even once in the case of weekly Friday’s (or Wednesday’s) protests against the previous government, and each time the organiser was “unknown,” or they claimed that the organiser did not even exist, as these were “spontaneous protests.” That happened every Friday. At the same time. With sound systems and performers. And not to mention the violent protests that also happened during the epidemic.
But according to the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy, the message of the aforementioned lawsuit was clear: “Whoever criticises the authorities will be sued by the state, even if that is against the law.” And what is even clearer is the message of the Legal Network that “their” people can do as they please, without having to follow the law – the Legal Network will make sure they will get away with it, without consequences.
In certain cases, the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy also worked with the law firm of the current presidential candidate, Nataša Pirc Musar. “It has been a year since we, in cooperation with the law firm Pirc Musar & Lemut Strle, filed a criminal complaint against the Director of the Government Communication Office, Urbanija,” they wrote in a tweet at the end of May, noting that no decision has been reached yet. What happened was that the then-Director of the Government Communication Office, Uroš Urbanija, was criminally charged with non-compliance with his legal obligations toward the Slovenian Press Agency. It had not occurred to them, however, to also go after the then-Director of the Slovenian Press Agency, Bojan Veselinovič.
The criminal proceedings between the Government Communication Office and the Slovenian Press Agency dragged on for practically a year, and the situation was only resolved when Veselinović resigned shortly before the end of his term of office. Slovenian Press Agency employees had already written a public letter to Veselinović before that, asking him to show some negotiation skills and come to an agreement with the state instead of blindly insisting on demands that are contrary to logic (for example, claiming that the Government Communication Office is not an authorised representative of the government) – and otherwise, he should resign.
And while the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy believes that artistic expression should be protected, even if it is shocking to some, this was not the case with the posters depicting Miha Kordiš, an MP from the Left party (Levica), who is currently running for President of the Republic. “The poster irritates a relevant part of the general public, which does not agree with this kind of communication in public and the media,” the Legal Network wrote in a tweet, explaining that the poster was also offensive to the person depicted because of his political affiliation – membership of one of the parties of the so-called Constitutional Arch Coalition (which consisted of the left-wing parties of the former opposition). With this sentence, they actually admitted why they found the poster to be offensive – because it depicted a person belonging to “their” political camp, and the posters were commissioned by Rok Snežič, who is, of course, not one of “theirs.” Is there really anything else to be said?
The Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy has also taken issue with Radio Ognjišče in the past, which is a catholic radio station, and has filed a complaint against it due to a certain letter. They also dealt with the editor of the weekly magazine “Demokracija” (“Democracy), Jože Biščak, while defending the unofficial leader of the anti-government protests, Jaša Jenull, with all their might when we wrote about him on the Nova24TV web portal; they also advertised support for the left-wing initiative the Voice of the People, and so on. By now, the readers will have likely already seen a pattern of their actions, for which they will now receive a prize – it pays to defend leftism, even at the European level. In the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy, four non-governmental organisations came together at a time of crisis for the left – the time of Janez Janša’s government. In addition to the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment (Pravni center za varstvo človekovih pravic in okolja), the other NGOs that are involved in this project are also Amnesty International Slovenia, the institute Today is a new day (Danes je nov dan), and the Institute for Diversity Culture Open (Zavod za kulturo raznolikosti Open). “You are definitely the legal network for the protection of leftists,” someone commented on Twitter, asking for a single case of an intolerant leftist being prosecuted by the Legal Network to disprove his claim. Despite our best efforts, we have not managed to find such a case.
Sara Kovač
