The Republic of Slovenia will have to pay 25,335.78 euros to Brigadier Anton Krkovič for his wrongful criminal conviction and imprisonment in the Patria court case. He spent 294 days in prison, from July 4th, 2014 to April 23rd, 2015. Krkovič demanded 601,119.96 euros from the state. In the past, Slovenian courts have generously paid out the damage claims, such as the one by Nataša Pirc Musar (70 thousand euros) and Gašpar Gašpar Mišič (757 thousand euros). »This judgment undoubtedly confirms that the defense internally coordinated the evident ill-treatments of the court. They want to convince us at all costs, that a professional error being overlooked at all three levels of the court, is something completely normal, or »a usual, expected complication« (in the case of doctors, an error like this leads to them losing their license). The court should react similarly in the Patria case, as it is a clear manifestation of a professional mistake on the part of the judges, to put it mildly,« was Brigadier Anton Krkovič’s first response to the judgment. You can read the full judgment, signed by the District Judge Aleksander Šmit, at the end of the article.
»In our case, we can rightly claim that this was a politically motivated intent, which is not recognized as such by the court in my judgment. In essence, what I can see from the judgment, is an absurd finding – equating »an expected complication« with a »professional error.« How enormously different the damage claims are in case of complications, versus in case of professional errors, can be seen in the case of Postojna Maternity Hospital (858,438.00 euros). Not to comment on managers’ severance pay and compensations,« Brigadier Anton Krkovič responded to the court’s ruling.
The ruling proved once again that the mistakes of first-rate prosecutors and judges can be reduced to a »minimal professional error that happened by mistake« by their judicial colleagues. Because of their professional misconduct and political motivations in the Patria case, Krkovič was wrongfully convicted and had to spend 294 days in jail.
In the past, Slovenian courts and state-owned companies’ administrations have generously paid high damage claims to their loyal staff. Nataša Pirc Musar received 70 thousand euros for the illegal process of appointing the director of RTV Slovenia – even though she did not assume the role of the director for even one day. The damage claim of 757 thousand euros, requested by Gašpar Gašpar Mišič is just as incredible. It is the difference between the salaries and bonuses that Mišič should have received from Luka Koper by the end of his term of office. Years ago, the Slovenian public was upset by the damage claim of the former NLB President Marjan Kramar, who received one million euros. The Former SDH President Lidija Glavina received severance pay of 132,000 euros for her dismissal. It is good to be dismissed, as long as you belong to the right economic and political elite.
Krkovič is just one of many Slovenians who were wrongfully convicted
Due to wrongful convictions by the court, an innocent individual may end up in prison. This happened to Krkovič, Janez Janša, and Ivan Črnkovič in the Patria case, where each was sentenced to between 22 and 24 months in prison. We are now following a similar process in the case of Milko Novič, who was wrongfully convicted and had to spend five years in prison. Krkovič compared the mistakes of the judiciary in the Patria case with the professional errors of doctors. »I argue that anything that ends with imprisonment can in the healthcare system (to which judges like to be compared) be compared to the death of a patient, which in the event of a professional error, results in damage claims and criminal penalties. Both complications, as well as errors, are internally processed in healthcare, and in the case of a proven fatal professional error, the withdrawal of the license follows. A doctor like that is far too dangerous to function in the system and is therefore eliminated by the system itself.«
Luka Perš