Ljubljana related
STA, 17 September 2021 - Anti-government protestors gathered in Republic Square in Ljubljana on Friday evening, announcing they had filed a criminal complaint over corruption against PM Janez Janša earlier in the day, to coincide with his birthday.
Every Janša government has been marked by corruption and nepotism, which has reached new dimensions in the last year and a half, said the Protest People's Assembly, as the organisers term themselves.
Referring to the recently published photos of Janša and lobbyist Božo Dimnik and businessman Andrej Marčič, the group said Janša abused power for its own interests and for lucrative deals of his friends.
The group also said it will not use violence to fight against this practice but it will use all legal means available.
STA, 16 September 2021 - Seven police officers were injured and several police vehicles damaged on Wednesday after an initially peaceful protest featuring several thousand people against the Covid pass mandate turned violent. Nine rioters were apprehended, police said on Thursday. Interior Minister Aleš Hojs described the rioting as "scandalous".
Police broke up the rally after protesters started throwing bottles, rocks and lit torches at police and the Parliament House, breaking a dozen windows on the building. Tear gas and a water cannon were deployed.
Police Commissioner Anton Olaj told the press on Thursday that freedom of expression and assembly was a legitimate right, but it must be exercised without violence.
"We condemn all violence, including the conduct of protesters at yesterday's rally in Ljubljana, where mass violations of law and order occurred."
Olaj said more such incidents were expected. "We are ready and will continue to act as demanded by the law." He stressed that everyone who organises rallies must realise that they will be held accountable in the end, which includes covering the costs.
There has been criticism in the media of how police handled the protests, in particular the low number of officers at the start and the absence of fencing, which is a typical feature of smaller anti-government protests that take place at the same location each Friday.
Tomislav Omejec, the head of the general police sector at the General Police Department, said protection was organised based on the information available at the time, gleaned largely from Facebook posts.
Police numbers were stepped up once nightfall approached and officers protecting the Parliament House detected pressure escalating, he said.
Interior Minister Hojs described the rioting as "scandalous for a democratic society" and a "realisation of left fascism in practice", after yesterday accusing "offshoots" of left parties of being responsible for the riots.
Asked whether he had any evidence for that, he said it would be "difficult to prove directly whether this or that person called anyone, but this is a pattern that we saw last year", he said in reference to violent 5 November protests.
Unofficial information obtained by news portal N1 indicates that many rioters were football hooligans, who joined a rally that featured diverse groups of opponents of vaccination, masks and a wide spectrum of those displeased with the latest Covid pass mandate.
Hojs dismissed reports that the majority of the protesters were peaceful and that only a handful were problematic, noting that such rallies were always potentially risky if organisers allow groups that want incidents to join.
He also drew parallels with the anti-government protests that have been held each Friday for over a year. "If you look at the composition of people who were there yesterday, at least some of them have been regular visitors of Friday protests."
The rally was organised by several large Facebook groups, including a small political party called Resni.ca, whose leader Zoran Stevanovič said in a press release today that the original event had "nothing to do" with the subsequent violence.
"Because the authorities did not know how to divert attention from this public gathering, they activated a group of rioters immediately after the end of the rally to stage a battle with police... Unfortunately, many peaceful participants who were already dispersing suffered the consequences of police repression," he said.
STA, 15 September 2021 - Police used a water canon and tear gas to disperse a group of several thousand protesters rallying against the Covid pass mandate in front of Parliament House on Wednesday.
The protest started out peacefully in the afternoon, but towards nightfall the crowd started to push against Parliament House and several signal torches were thrown at the building.
Police in riot gear reacted by firing gas canisters at the crowd, which soon dispersed into the surrounding streets.
Smaller groups returned to the square and started throwing more torches, prompting the police to deploy a water cannon. Stones were also thrown at police.
The protest was organised by several groups opposing vaccination, masks and the Covid pass mandate that entered into force today.
Pred parlamentom je vroče! pic.twitter.com/G94xgXWoQA
— Radio Študent (@radiostudent) September 15, 2021
Razbita flaša. pic.twitter.com/UywetezwpF
— Radio Študent (@radiostudent) September 15, 2021
The groups are active mostly on Facebook and their spokespersons today decried the latest restrictions and called on the government and MPs to resign.
Ljubljana police estimate the crowd numbered 8,000 people and described the rally as "a mass violation of public law and order".
It said officers were pelleted with torches, granite pavers and other objects.
The police was still in the city around 10pm to disperse individual groups that scattered around the centre.
Police Commissioner Anton Olaj called for tolerance and said on Twitter that violence at protests was "inadmissible".
Interior Minister Aleš Hojs pointed the finger at leftist parties, saying their "offshoots" had organised the rally.
He said on Twitter that this was how "left fascism was implemented in practice".
STA, 6 September 2021 - The Ljubljana Administrative Unit has acted upon a proposal from Ljubljana police to ban rallies of the coronavirus deniers who stormed the public broadcaster's headquarters on Friday. It told the STA on Monday the decision on the ban will enter into force when it is handed to the organiser of the rallies on Tuesday.
The Ljubljana Police Department had unsuccessfully sought a ban back in July when a group of protesters already entered RTV Slovenija.
The Administrative Unit explained today it could not grant the request back then because the police had not presented "adequate reasons" to show such rallies would jeopardise lives or health. The police filed another proposal today, this time listing "adequate reasons" for the ban.
RTV Slovenija has meanwhile already filed criminal complaints against all those involved in Friday's incident, and plans to boost security around the broadcaster.
The broadcaster has sent a request to the Ljubljana municipality to purchase the land around the headquarters to erect a security fence.
The group of coronavirus deniers and anti-vaccination protesters managed to get into the newsroom studio before the police intervened and removed them.
Involved in the incident are believed to be a group led by ex-soldier Ladislav Troha and dubbed the Conscious Residents of Slovenia.
Troha could be seen on footage of the incident released by the public broadcaster.
The group has been protesting against Covid-19 containment measures and vaccination in front of RTV Slovenija for several months, harassing staff and demanding air time to be able to present their truth.
As can be seen on the eAdministration website, the group has reported its rallies in front of RTV Slovenija to hold them every day until the end of the year.
Its rallies are dubbed Peaceful Rally for the Liberation, Purification and Revival of RTV SLO and Slovenia.
The police investigation into the incident is ongoing after 44 violations of public law and order, 18 violations of the law on private security and 26 violations of the law on public assembly have already been established.
RTV Slovenija thanked all those who had expressed to it public support while regretting and condemning the fact that some had abused the incident on social media to imply that journalists were to be blamed for it.
STA, 4 September 2021 -A group of coronavirus deniers and anti-vaccination protesters stormed the headquarters of the Slovenian public broadcaster last night, managing to get into the newsroom studio before the police intervened.
The incident happened after the group had been protesting against Covid-19 containment measures and vaccination in front of the RTV Slovenija (RTVS) headquarters for four months, harassing staff and demanding air time to be able to present their truth to the public.
"This is an unacceptable attack on the media, journalism and democracy," Manica Janežič Ambrožič, the RTVS news programme editor, said in response to the incident, which happened at around 8:30pm.
"This is a grave attack on our media house and public media outlet, which we condemn in the strongest terms," Andrej Grah Whatmough, RTVS director general, said as he appeared on the late night news show Odmevi.
The scene outside the studiosThe incident, which ended after the police removed some 20 maskless protesters from the building, has also drawn condemnation from the Slovenian Association of Journalists (DNS) and the Trade Union of Journalists and from Interior Minister Aleš Hojs.
Grah Whatmough said the management had been trying hard for months to have the situation tackled, but the problem was because the area around the RTVS HQ was a public property and the protesters had a permit to assemble there.
He announced security around the building would be beefed up and was hopeful the authorities in charge would take their complaints more seriously after the incident.
Today, the management issued a written statement denouncing what it said was an unprecedented incident, urging the authorities to act, and pledging to use all "security and legal means to prevent a repeat of such an incident".
The scene in the lobbyTako je bilo včeraj nekaj minut po 21. uri na recepciji TV Slovenija, ko je policija približno 20 proticepilskih protestnikov, ki so vdrli v stavbo, odstranila iz studia informativnega programa. #novikoronavirus #covid19 #cepljenje @rtvslo pic.twitter.com/bPxEodGZ4Q
— Matej Rijavec (@Matej_Rijavec) September 4, 2021
The statement says the protesters have been engaging in indecent behaviour on the site for months, "insulting staff and visitors, storming the RTV Slovenija building and disrupting work".
The management has pursued many official avenues to deal with the problem, sending complaints to police and the inspection authorities but "there has been no real response from those responsible".
Similarly, editor Janežič Ambrožič said their warnings since May had not met with response.
"We live in society where violence is only getting worse and it's but a step from harassment on Twitter to a violent house storm," she said, expressing concern that "few budge" in the face of violent scenes seen yesterday.
Information available to the STA indicates the incident involved members of the movement called Aware Residents of Slovenia, led by Ladislav Troha, a former army officer and veteran of the 1991 War of Independence.
The newspaper Večer reported that it was just yesterday that the RTVS works council filed a criminal complaint against the movement because its members have been harassing staff entering the building for months. The council also asked for a restraining order.
The police said it was looking into the incident and would act against violators in accordance with legislation.
In condemning the attack, the DNS association described the incident as the tip of the iceberg in the hate campaign against public media and journalists that was being incited by those in power.
The scene in the studioVdor proticepilcev v dnevniški studio. #napadnartv pic.twitter.com/PpHLwyrYdo
— Barbara Vidmajer (@bvidmajer) September 3, 2021
Prime Minister Janša, reacting on his Twitter profile, denounced the incident by saying it has nothing to do with freedom of expression.
"It is violence against that freedom. All must be done to condemn and punish every self-willed and violent appropriation of public space and threats on the same terms and everywhere."
Janša posted four photographs with his tweet, one from Friday's incident, one from a protest at a session of the RTVS programme council a few years ago and photographs from protests in Ljubljana and Koper.
Vdor v poslopje @RTV_Slovenija ali katero koli drugo javno zgradbo nima nobene zveze s svobodo izražanja. Je nasilje nad to svobodo. Storiti je treba vse, da se vsako samovoljno in nasilno prilaščanje javnega prostora in grožnje obsodi in kaznuje z enakimi vatli vedno in povsod. pic.twitter.com/bTsu4VIpnp
— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) September 4, 2021
He retweeted several other posts, including a tweet by Gregor Perič, the head of MPs of the junior coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC), saying it all started with a chainsaw in front of the parliament building, continued with attacks on MPs and now the storm to RTV Slovenija, which he condemned.
Janša also retweeted a post which said "the RTVS news programme has been encouraging for a year illegal neofascist protests, vandalism against public institutions, anti-vaxxer delusions [...] while now they are puzzled as they reap what they sowed".
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Aleš Hojs, condemning the incident in the strongest terms, tweeted it was partly the result of "what is being generated by Jenull@co., Prebold headteacher@co., and fake news @TarcaRTVSLO@co".
He was referring to Jaša Jenull, a leading face of Friday's anti-government cycling protests, the Prebold primary school headteacher, who is known for his opposition to Covid measures, and the RTVS news magazine programme Tarča.
Hojs said penal and public order legislation would have to be toughened in response to the developments.
STA, 1 September 2021 - The Interior Ministry has prepared changes to the public order act that introduce fines for indecent behaviour towards state officials, senior representatives of the authorities and their families. The proposal, which has already been endorsed by the government, is yet to be approved in parliament.
In line with the changes a person "arguing with, shouting at or behaving indecently to an official who is conducting their official duties or to a high-level representative of the state, MP, member of the National Council or the government, a Constitutional Court or a Supreme Court judge, or their family members" could be slapped with a EUR 500-1,000 fine.
The government said after today's correspondence session that the changes had been proposed in light of a rise in "threats to MPs and other senior representatives of the state recently".
At the beginning of summer, as the National Assembly discussed changes to the communicable disease act, several MPs were harassed by anti-maskers in front of the parliament building.
Deputy groups assessed after the incident that the parliament's security system needed changes.
As questions were raised why police officers guarding the building had not acted, Police Commissioner Anton Olaj ordered an inquiry and three officers of the Ljubljana Police Department have been given written warnings before termination of employment due to violations of the employment contract in relation to their conduct.
The coalition parties has been calling for changes to the penal code to make an assault on state officials a criminal act prosecuted ex officio. The Justice Ministry is drawing up this proposal.
Responding to the proposed changes to the public order act that would introduce the fines, the opposition Left said the proposal was "an arrogant attempt to silence protests" against those who were privatising healthcare, abusing efforts to tackle the Covid crisis, suppressing criticism and undermining public institutions.
The opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) sees it as yet another repressive way with which the government is trying to silence all citizens who would express criticism of the government policies in any way.
LMŠ MP Tina Heferle stressed that the LMŠ absolutely opposed indecent and insulting behaviour towards anyone not just state officials. "Why punish someone who insults me three times stricter than someone who insults you. Thus the government is again creating first- and second-class citizens," she said.
Matjaž Han, the head of the deputy group of the opposition Social Democrats (SD), also assessed the proposal as harmful. "Such proposals do not help reduce conflicts in our society, they only enhance them."
He stressed that relevant institutions for dealing with inappropriate reactions already existed in the country.
STA, 21 August 2021 - Prime Minister Janez Janša and Interior Minister Aleš Hojs were heckled by anti-government protesters at a mountain hut below Mt Triglav, Slovenia's tallest peak, on Friday evening.
Video shared on social media and reports by media including N1 and Reporter show Janša and Hojs filmed being confronted by a group of protesters as they were sitting in front of the Kredarica mountain hut.
This was after anti-government protesters, who usually stage bicycle rallies in the centre of Ljubljana, marked the 70th week of protests by climbing Mt Triglav, bicycle in tow.
Various social media posts suggest the protesters and the government officials met by chance.
The interchange lasted several minutes, during which Janša and Hojs faced a barrage of criticism and insults while periodically exchanging statements with the protesters.
The authors of the video said Defence Minister Matej Tonin was also there, but he is not seen on video.
Tonin's party, New Slovenia (NSi), confirmed Tonin had climbed Mt Triglv on Friday independently, with a group of ministry officials.
On the way up he encountered protesters who hurled some insults at him and behaved inappropriately.
Reporter says a helicopter landed at the mountain hut at around 9:45 PM and took the officials to the valley.
The prime minister's office would not comment on the events beyond saying that Janša had gone to Triglav in his spare time.
Uroš Urbanija, the head of the Government Communications Office, tweeted that the actions by the protesters were "a primitive attack".
One of the activists, trade unionist Tea Jarc, subsequently wrote on Twitter that an opponent of the protest movement had punched her.
STA, 13 July 2021 - Criminal police are investigating last week's harassment of a number of MPs by anti-maskers in front of the National Assembly, while police security around the parliament building and of parliament staff has also been strengthened, the Ljubljana Police Department said in a written statement on Tuesday.
More MPs than initially reported were a target of harassment and threats, the police said, noting that "the numbers show that these were not individual accidental expressions of people's dissatisfaction with MPs".
The statement does not say how many MPs have been attacked after changes to the infectious diseases act was passed last Wednesday, but a number of MPs publicly said they had been threatened and even spat at by a group of people when leaving the National Assembly.
Speaker Igor Zorčič said on Monday that the National Assembly was considering pressing charges against the attackers, while it had been agreed that security of the National Assembly and its staff should be improved.
The Ljubljana Police Department also said today that the perpetrators had tried to influence how MPs should vote.
According to MP Jožef Horvat from the coalition New Slovenia (NSi), the group that surrounded him wanted to know how he had voted on the changes to the law. He believes Zorčič will not hesitate to take action, but also regrets that deputy group leaders were not unanimous on the matter on Friday when they met with the speaker as, he said, some left the meeting prematurely.
MPs Mojca Škrinjar, Alenka Jeraj and Janez Moškrič from the ruling Democrats (SDS) also spoke today about recent verbal harassments and threats they experienced when entering or leaving the parliament building.
The perpetrators jostled the two female MPs and none of the MPs received help by the police or security, the MPs said.
Jeraj highlighted that such conduct was unacceptable, saying she expected the competent authorities to take action in line with the law.
"We've been raising alarm for a long time, since slogan Death to Janšism started being tolerated, warning what this will lead to," she said, adding that the MPs had also turned to Speaker Zorčič but this came to nothing.
Prime Minister Janez Janša warned on Twitter that violence against MPs had been on the rise.
A parliamentary session or a session of the National Security Council or both would be needed to give the police and prosecution a chance to explain how they plan to curb "this spiral of violence", he said.
Opposition MPs also condemned the violence with National Party (SNS) leader Zmago Jelinčič saying the police should respond immediately and blaming leftist progressive media for the developments.
Marjan Šarec of his eponymous LMŠ party said that the situation was a reflection of today's society where everyone is allowed to do as they please. He said the MPs had not been harassed by leftists, but "boys and girls from all walks of life who joined forces and are now against everything".
Left's deputy group head Matej T. Vatovec sees the reason for the developments in the SDS's year-long actions and their rhetoric of division.
Matjaž Han, the head of SocDems deputy faction, called on his colleagues in parliament to de-escalate the situation, saying there were MPs both on the left and right poles of the political spectrum who incited hate speech. He also dismissed claims by some that anti-government protesters known as Friday cyclists had something to do with this harassment.
The government amended the infectious diseases act after the Constitutional Court declared parts of it and by extension the measures introduced during the epidemic unconstitutional because they gave the government too much leeway in introducing restrictions that affect fundamental rights.
The upper chamber vetoed the amendments yesterday in an unexpected move since no group of councillors had demanded a veto; the National Council simply met to automatically debate vetoes of all major laws to facilitate their prompt implementation.
STA, 26 June 2021 - The police have estimated that some 9,000 people gathered in Prešeren Square on Friday to join in an alternative celebration of Statehood Day and protest against the government. An inquiry has been launched into the organisers of the unregistered rally, who are also behind Friday anti-government protests, for violating the public assembly act.
The Ljubljana Police Department said on Saturday that both the official Statehood Day ceremony and the protest were policed with 14 violations of the protection of public order act detected at the rally.
A total of 13 people were detained and released after the protest ended. Other procedures are ongoing as inquiries into potential further violations continue, the police added.
The rally started at about 7pm and ended at 9pm. Some 200 participants then proceeded to the crossroad of Slovenska Road and Šubičeva Street, which is close to Republic Square where the formal ceremony was held. They dispersed at around 10pm.
Speakers at the latest anti-government protest criticised political elites, highlighting that Slovenians had had enough of political divides.
STA, 25 June 2021 - Organisers of weekly anti-government protests staged an alternative celebration of Statehood Day on Friday. The crowd filled Prešeren Square as speakers criticised political elites.
In inviting people to the protest, the organisers said the event was open to all people who recognise that this is a holiday of the people, not a holiday of political elites and unilateral taking of credit.
They said the people are fed up with political strife dating back thirty years and want a decent and free life.
"It is time to transform Slovenia into an inclusive, more just and more equal society under the principles of democracy, rule of law, liberty and social justice," the invitation said.
The event saw addresses by representatives from various walks of life, including a war veteran, a trade unionist, a philosopher and a student.
Some opposition politicians from centre-left parties also took part.
At the outset of the protest some members of the far-right Yellow Jackets unfurled a banner saying "You call patriotism fascism to defend your communism". They were escorted away by police, according to several media reports.
The event was held in the evening, just hours before the official state ceremony.
