STA, 24 July 2020 - The Slovenian capital witnessed anti-government protests for the 14th consecutive Friday, with a new focus this time on women's rights.
The protesters, many of them on bicycles, gathered in Prešeren Square before doing a round of Ljubljana's centre, calling at government departments and other spots on the way.
As in the weeks before, participants carried banners expressing discontent with the government. Some were shouting slogans such as "Down with capital" "We won't give in" and calling for a world in which everyone will be able to live a decent life.
The demonstrators did a round of the ministries of health and interior affairs, as well as RTV Slovenija where they expressed their support for the public broadcaster service.
Like the week before, the protest was to wrap up with a "popular assembly" in Prekmurski Trg square, as the participants decided to form their demands and expectations for Slovenia's future.
Protestniki so oboroženi s številnimi transparenti, ki izražajo nezadovoljstvo s trenutno vlado. #protest pic.twitter.com/yut8YpffCv
— Gorazd Kosmač (@kosmacg) July 24, 2020
"Za ribe, za ptice, za delavske pravice", vzklika del protestnikov z okoljevarstveno noto. #protest pic.twitter.com/JfU98cRChu
— Gorazd Kosmač (@kosmacg) July 24, 2020
Mimo Gimnazije Ledina. #protest pic.twitter.com/PGioO1NU9e
— Gorazd Kosmač (@kosmacg) July 24, 2020
Part of the protesters gathered already in the afternoon to call for zero tolerance of sexual harassment and violence against women and expressing support for the MeToo movement.
Those protesters, mostly women, carried slogans saying "yes means yes" to call for a redefinition of rape and crimes against sexual inviolability based on the consent standard.
Trade unionist Tea Jarc made a speech in favour of a ban on Sunday shopping after the government lifted the ban imposed at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.
The pro-government counter-protesters that have become a new feature in recent weeks announced on Twitter today that they would mix amongst the anti-government protesters to conduct a "monitoring" to "identify left extremists".
Protest campaigns were also held in some other Slovenian towns, including Maribor, Piran and Velenje.
