NGOs Call for Inquiry into Targeting of Palestinian Protesters in Ljubljana

By , 26 May 2021, 16:50 PM Politics
NGOs Call for Inquiry into Targeting of Palestinian Protesters in Ljubljana YouTube

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STA, 26 May 2021 - Several NGOs have warned that police identified and fined mostly foreigners ahead of and during last week's protests in Ljubljana, which they see as inadmissible ethical profiling. The Human Rights Ombudsman is investigating the matter.

The Slovenian Philanthropy, Amnesty International Slovenia and the Peace Institute stressed the right to protest, in particular for the Palestinian community in Slovenia, which they said was violated last Friday.

"The European Court of Human Rights says the right to peaceful assembly is a fundamental right in a democratic society and just like the freedom of expression it is one of the foundations of such a society.

"But rather than honouring this right the Slovenian police tried to physically remove peaceful protesters ... and issued a number of fines," the NGOs wrote in a statement on Wednesday.

They said that fines had been issued to people with "different traumatic and tragic stories", who have come a long way to reach safety, who have seen their relatives, friends, acquaintances injured or killed, and whose homes have been destroyed.

The NGOs called on police to stop persecuting and physically harassing protesters.

The latest weekly cycling protest, held last Friday in Ljubljana city centre, coincided with an event staged by a movement for the Slovenian Palestinian community with many of the protesters carrying Palestinian flags.

At the event, Palestinians shared their stories, calling for freedom for Palestine and condemning actions by Israel as "genocide". They also protested against the Israeli flag being raised on the Slovenian government building.

Access to the government building was blocked by the police. There were also pushing and altercation between the protesters and the police and two protesters were apprehended to be identified and later released.

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