The mainstream media in the hands of the left-wing economic and political currents and the opposition parties LMŠ, SD, Levica, and SAB, have caused quite a stir, due to Aleš Hojs’ Ministry of the Interior’s instructions, as Hojs asked the Acting Director-General of the Police, Andrej Jurčič, to conduct a revision of the investigations in the Bank of Slovenia from 2012, a revision of the case of alleged abuse of Pro Plus’ dominant position in television advertising, a revision of the criminal complaint against the NLB bankers in the Farrokh case which was rejected last year, a revision of the case of alleged corruption in healthcare, in the purchasing of vascular stents, and a revision of the case of investigation of suspected abnormalities in the children’s cardiac programme. In the following article, we will present some examples of supervisions, ordered by various Ministers of the left-wing governments in the past, which, at the time, did not seem problematic, neither to the mainstream media nor the current left-wing opposition.
The first case we will present is from the year 2009. Then-Minister of Justice Aleš Zalar ordered the supervision of the work of the District State Prosecutor’s Office in Ljubljana. The supervision was ordered because the Ministry did not obtain all the information regarding the prosecution of the Finnish journalist Magnus Berglund that it had requested from the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office. We do not remember any of the media outlets creating an affair out of the Minister of Justice Zalar’s request, which happened during the time of Pahor’s government.
The so-called Lahovnik’s law also caused quite a stir when it was presented, as it limited the payment of the managerial salaries in state-owned companies. Then-management of the Bank Assets Management Company (hereinafter referred to as the BAMC), under the leadership of Marko Simoneti, Ph.D., wanted to find a hole in Lahovnik’s law, in every way possible. The sale of the portfolio of claims against ACH holding by the BAMC executives to the American investment bank, Bank of America Merril Lynch, was also quite high-profile. The claims were sold below-cost, and the US financial conglomerate earned millions of euros. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance during the time of Cerar’s government demanded greater supervision of the BAMC’s work. The latter has had to send more detailed and clearer information about their work to the Ministry ever since. This was also adopted by a government decision on December 7th, 2016.
Anja Kopač Mrak ordered supervision in the case of the Carinthian boys, in order to protect the management of the Social Work Centre Velenje
During the time of the Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Anja Kopač Mrak, the Carinthian boys affair was one of the most high-profile affairs. The underage boys were victims of long-standing anomalies in the social policy system. Their tragedy began when their father killed their mother. The father landed in jail, and the minor children’s grandmother and grandfather, the parents of the boys’ murdered mother, became their legal custodians. The problem arose because the grandparents did not allow the children to have contact with their father. The Social Work Centre Velenje then forcibly took both children from their grandparents and put them in foster care.
After immense pressure, Mrak ordered an inspection of the Social Work Centre’s work. However, a decisive role was played by the former dean of the Faculty of Social Work and the authority in the field of social policy on the left political pole, Gabi Čačinovič Vogrinčič, who defended the work of the Social Work Centre Velenje with her report. The inspection of the placement of two boys in foster care showed no irregularities, but the individuals who defended the grandparents’ right, sough justice in Slovenian courts.
Later, the Supreme Court’s judgement in this case, from October 2016, confirmed that the actions of the Social Work Centre Velenje were illegal. The grandmother and grandfather, with whom the grandchildren lived until they were taken to a foster family, had their constitutional rights violated. The final blow was dealt to Mrak by the Constitutional Court, which rejected the constitutional appeal of the Social Work Centre Velenje. However, the children are still not with their grandparents, as the story, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, is still not finished, due to the influential staff of the SD party in the field of social policy in Slovenia.
Vesna Györkös Žnidar ordered supervision of the disastrous work of the National Bureau of Investigation
The greatest similarity with the case of the current Minister Aleš Hojs happened when the Minister of the Interior in Cerar’s government, Vesna Györkös Žnidar, ordered the supervision of the work of the National Bureau of Investigation (Nacionalni preiskovalni urad – hereinafter referred to as the NPU). In December 2018, it was revealed among other things, that contrary to the law, the NPU prepares internal acts, based on their own measures; they do not cooperate with the other police units and instructs them to collect notifications – even though they do not have the authority to order that. The police thus received numerous recommendations for regulating the situation at the NPU, the head of which was Darko Majhenič at the time.
Minister Tonin had ordered an investigation of the alleged attack on Daniel Malalan by a soldier
In the current government’s term, an incident happened at the Slovenian-Italian border. The information was released to the public, that a member of the Slovenian Army allegedly pointed a rifle at the unsuspecting leftist Daniel Malalan, who was taking a walk. Malalan is a son of the well-known comedian from the TV Poper whos, Igor Malalan. The Ministry of Defence quickly ordered an investigation, and the final report was presented at the KNOVS session, where it was established that “a Slovenian Army soldier did not point a rifle at D. Malalan, did not ask him for identification, and did not arrest him. He carried out his task in accordance with the rules of the operation.”
The Siol web portal also presented the story of how the report on the work of the police miraculously disappeared during the time of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia’s government (LDS). The report charged the former Prime Minister and President of the Republic, Janez Drnovšek.
Aleš Hojs is not violating any laws
The media are continuing with their daily attacks on the Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, who ordered a revision of some already closed cases, handled by the National Bureau of Investigation, and are even asking “experts” to comment on the matter, with the intention of publicly smearing the Minister, whose actions are completely legal and legitimate. Lawyer Radovan Cerjak pointed out that Article 23 of the State Administration Act states that the Minister gives mandatory instructions to the constituent body and instructs it to perform certain tasks or take certain measures within its competence, and report back on the results. And Article 24 states that the Ministry supervises the work of the constituent body. The Minister may request reports, data, and other documents, related to the performance of the work of the constituent body. At a special request by the Minister, the head of the body must also regularly report back to him on the work of the body and on all of the important issues in its areas of work.
In addition, the Organisation and Work of the Police Act, which is a lex specialis, clearly stipulates that “the Minister orders the supervision of the work of the police.” Namely, supervision determines the legality, professionalism, and respecting of human rights and the fundamental freedoms in the exercise of the police powers, the performance of the police tasks, and the implementation of the Minister’s guidelines. All this is prescribed by law, but the mainstream media are intentionally ignoring it, and are instead lynching the Minister.
Luka Perš