On Wednesday at 10 a.m., the hearing of the Director of Nova24TV, Boris Tomašič, before the Commission of Inquiry of the National Assembly began. The 28th session of the Commission of Inquiry for determining the political responsibility of holders of public office with regard to the alleged illegal financing of political parties and party political propaganda in the media before and during the 2022 elections to the National Assembly with financial resources from state-owned enterprises, state institutions and foreign entities, was chaired by the Freedom Movement (Gibanje Svoboda) MP Tamara Vonta. The first item on the agenda concerned the taking of evidence. Tomašič was summoned to the session as a witness on the basis of the supplement to the evidence decision No. 9 of the 12th of November 2024. Tomasič began with a question: “I have one question for everyone at the outset: I am under the obligation to tell the truth under criminal prosecution, which I do all the time, but I wonder whether this also applies to you, that is, to the members of the Commission, or whether you can also say things that are not true?”
MP Tamara Vonta responded: “When you are the Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry, you will ask questions of the chairpersons.” Tomašič went on to say that he had followed the work of the commission in the past. He recalled that the commission had obtained a considerable amount of information on the business activities of companies of which Tomašič was the Director. The commission was supposedly making reasonable use of the Law on Criminal Procedure, Article 56 of which states that if it is necessary to obtain information or documentation on the state of applications and deposits and the state and turnover of accounts or other transactions of the suspected, accused, and other persons who may reasonably be presumed to be involved in the financial transactions or transactions of the suspected or accused, the investigating judge may, on a reasoned motion of the public prosecutor, order the case to be opened.
The Commission of Inquiry is not a court of law and is therefore not entitled to information on specific operations
Tomašič pointed out: “The Commission of Inquiry does not have the status of a court, I am very sure of that, so I will not talk about specific business transactions, about specific business partners, because I believe this is illegal and you are breaking the law.” The former Information Commissioner, Nataša Pirc Musar, who is now the President of the Republic, wrote the same thing – that only an investigating judge can order certain tasks. The same thing is also written in the Banking Act – the bank must protect confidential information unless requested by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK), requested in writing by a court, the prosecutor’s office or the police, and, in an explicit case, it can also disclose it at the request of an investigating judge.
“We all know that this commission is not a serious thing, but a political show!”
Tomasič also said: “You are basing an investigation on illegal information. This investigation is illegal. And anyway, this is not a serious thing (as we all know) but a political show, and I will behave accordingly. And I did not say that, your predecessor (MP Mojca Šetinc Pašek) said it publicly on television.” He recalled her words – that the Commission of Inquiry she headed was also intended for “a political show” and “a reckoning with the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS)”. Tomašič believes that this is actually about the persecution of the only serious media in Slovenia, which does not do things according to what the ruling politics would like.
“The key problem of the media is the “de-Janša-ised”, unprofessional RTVS!”
Tomašič also recalled the time when Prime Minister Robert Golob visited him in his office, and they signed a contract for advertising on Nova24TV. This was when Golob was still a local politician and Director of the Gen-I energy company. When he came to power, he said that no advertising should be allowed on the media run by Tomašič. The Director of Nova24TV is convinced that the key problem of the media space is that it is extremely unbalanced and that we have a so-called “de-Janša-ised” national television that has become completely unprofessional. He also pointed out that he personally knows people there who were very capable. They, in addition to Nova24TV, the Demokracija magazine (Democracy) and some other media outlets, do what people are willing to pay for voluntarily.
The real purpose of the commission is to silence the media critical of the government
“There is no need for a compulsory contribution! People pay for it. Why? Because they know what an unbalanced media picture we have in Slovenia. And given that this is a political circus, that witnesses are being attacked, it is important to know that the real purpose of this commission is to silence the media that are critical of the government.” It is also the intention of the commission to declare the media “non-media”, which is a lie. He also recalled the label “party newsletter” and the “expert” Marko Milosavljević, who had spread such views. Tomašič: “You, the Golob team, have depoliticised the police by breaking into my home without a basis – illegally, and I intend to prove that! I was not a suspect or anything like that, but they were still searching through my home, turning my underwear inside out, etc.”
Nova24TV exists without Hungarian money and state media advertising!
The reason for this is that the commission in question wrote a certain “complot” that has no connection with reality. Tomašič pointed out that the employees of the media outlets he runs work hard and work a lot. He also recalled that Nova24TV is a small media outlet, but it will soon celebrate ten years on the market. He pointed out another lie by MP Tamara Vonta – that Nova24TV is not able to survive without Hungarian money. “Nova24TV exists without Hungarian money! Nova24TV lives in spite of the “fatwa” that state companies are not allowed to advertise in it, even though it is bad for marketing!” He also recalled the Freedom Movement party’s lie that Nova24TV receives money from Telekom for “zero viewership”. Tomašič explained how the media outlet he runs really lives: “We advertise Janša’s new book – “Budnica” (The Wake-up Call), and in ten days, we sell more than 10 thousand copies!”
The start-up capital for Nova24TV came from people who were fed up with the media one-sidedness
“The media does not just report on what is nice. No, I know you don’t like what we do, but the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia guarantees us the right to do it! And we are a media outlet, a serious media outlet, a good media outlet, living independently without state money!” MP Vonta went on to falsely claim that Tomašič had been the Director of SDS media projects for many years. He recalled that in 2015, he decided that “something had to be done about the distorted media scene.” He and a few associates founded “the most transparent media project in the history of independent Slovenia”. They used “crowdfunding” to raise the basic capital to set up a joint stock company (i.e. they raised the money from the people). Almost a thousand people bought shares because they felt the same need for a new media project.
At that time, people predicted that they would only survive for a short period of time. And in the beginning, it was very difficult. They started in appalling technical conditions, but they persevered. Because people valued truth over quality. Eventually, the technical problems were overcome. Tomašič also recalled the web portal, which is now one of the most widely read news portals in Slovenia. At the time of the epidemic, it had almost one million different readers, and as a result, it was side by side with another private media outlet, 24ur. However, Tomašič knew at the beginning of the story that the start-up money would not be enough to develop the media outlet fast enough, so he looked for strategic partners. Once he found them, they entered the ownership structure. Later on, the ownership also changed slightly, but all the information on ownership is publicly available (currently, Tomašič owns the largest share of the company NTV24.si).
“We did not receive a single subsidy for the books!”
Since their establishment, they have also bought the publishing company “Nova obzorja” (New Horizons), which has been on the market for 28 years and publishes the weekly Demokracija. Tomašič also pointed out the Demokracija Magazine. He particularly highlighted the publication of the Gen-I dossier, The Robert Golob Affair edition. It sold over 15 thousand copies and was reprinted three times. The reason is that other media do not want to write about the case. He also recalled that they publish the Nova24TV Magazine, a magazine of crossword puzzles, and books. Tomasič: “We did not receive a single subsidy for the books! And if you ask me, I would abolish the media fund. Anyone who cannot survive on the market should stop working!” He does not know the other owners because the company has transferable shares. He also recalled that the number of clicks can be checked on Google Analytics.
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