STA, 13 August 2020 - Supreme Court vice-president Miodrag Đorđević has temporary suspended district judge Zvjezdan Radonjić, a decision that has triggered strong reactions in one segment of politics. The Supreme Court said the suspension is based on the type and gravity of disciplinary violations Radonjić stands accused of.
Radonjić, a Ljubljana District Court judge, has been a vocal critic of the Slovenian judiciary. He made headlines in recent years as the presiding judge in the case of the 2014 murder of Chemistry Institute boss Janko Jamnik. Defendant Milko Novič was acquitted in a retrial, but the case has been sent into another retrial with Radonjić removed from the panel.
"The judge is accused of several grave disciplinary breaches whose descriptions highlight the persistent nature of the actions and the type of discourse by the accused," the Supreme Court wrote on Wednesday about Radonjić, who has accused other judges of accepting bribes and claimed pressure had been exerted on him in the Jamnik case.
The court added that the type and gravity of the alleged disciplinary violations prompted Đorđević to suspend Radonjić "so that the court can operate in an undisturbed manner and that the reputation of the profession and public trust in the judiciary are protected".
"It is expected of a judge to observe the dignity of his post when expressing himself in public, that he is reserved in situations when his public communication could imperil the authority and integrity of the judiciary, that his public discourse (including criticism) retains a decent and respectful attitude to his peers," the court wrote.
Radonjić is facing a criminal complaint over false accusations after he filed a formal complaint in February 2018 over alleged bribery in a Higher Court case. He claimed seven more cases handled by Higher Court judges had been suspect.
While the details of Radonjić's alleged disciplinary breaches have not bee disclosed, the newspaper Dnevnik reported today that District Court president Marjan Pogačnik had filed several disciplinary complaints against the judge.
According to Dnevnik, the accusations include several instances of inappropriate discourse on the part of Radonjić, while the judge once allegedly also refused the duty to report to the court president.
The paper adds that pre-trial proceedings are also under way against Radonjić over slander, including in connection to alleged pressure on him in the Jamnik case.
Dnevnik reports that Radonjić has been processed by the Judicial Council's ethics commission on several occasions. One case highlighted pertains to an article penned by the judge, in which he wondered whether philosopher Boris Vezjak, a vocal critic of PM Janez Janša, is retarded.
Radonjić told the STA a few days ago that he stood by his statements. He said he had not spread false accusations knowing they were false, but only reported to the police what he was familiar with.
Meanwhile, the suspension has prompted a strong reaction from a part of politics, in particular from the senior coalition Democrats (SDS).
Hm. V Sloveniji naj bi bili sodniki neodvisni in zavezani zgolj ustavi in zakonu. A to očitno velja le za tiste, ki sodijo po Bavconovem načelu. Primer šikaniranja sodnika Radonjića je zrel za vsestransko preiskavo. @vrhovno https://t.co/kTELhc1YgX
— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) August 12, 2020
Prime Minister Janša tweeted on Wednesday: "Hm. Judges in Slovenia are supposedly independent and bound only by the constitution and the law. But obviously this only applies to those ruling in line with Bavcon's principles. The chicanery against judge Radonjić is ripe for a comprehensive investigation."
Janša, whose tweet refers to Ljubo Bavcon, a Yugoslav-era jurist whom he sees as a caretaker of alleged communist continuity, also retweeted several tweets alleging the suspension was revenge for the acquittal of Nović in the Jamnik case.
