STA, 30 March 2021 - A man attempted to enter the National Assembly building with a chainsaw Tuesday afternoon shouting "I've had enough of lockdown" before being tackled by security guards in front of the main entrance.

Incident pred Državnim zborom. Moški s psom in prižgano motorno žago je želel nad parlament. "Dost mam tega zapiranja," je vzklikal. Policisti so ga že obvladali. pic.twitter.com/bvc4Z80K8P

— Luka Svetina (@LukaSvetina) March 30, 2021

INCIDENT: Med razpravo o razresitvi @IgorZorcic na vrata #DZ nekdo kar z motorno zago!!! "Dosti imam tega zapiranja," je bilo slisati. Policija ga je takoj aretirala. Nihce ni bil poskodovan. Seja tece dalje. pic.twitter.com/KC3f59TqnF

— Anže Božič (@AnzeBozic) March 30, 2021

Social media footage from the scene shows the man, who had a dog in tow, being tackled by a security guard while another guard turned off the chainsaw.

Nobody was hurt and the incident did not affect proceedings at the National Assembly, which was just then debating the dismissal of Speaker Igor Zorčič.

Police said they had been informed of the incident around 7pm. A patrol was dispatched to the scene and brought the man into custody.

STA, 1 March 2021 - Underage secondary school students from the Maribor area who participated in a protest urging return to in-classroom learning in early February have been issued court summons for the purpose of answering charges of violation of the communicable diseases act, the We Demand School (zahtevamo šolo) initiative confirmed for the STA on Monday.

Lars Podkrajšek of the initiative announced resistance against such "intimidation".

According to the information known so far, a total of six underage persons have been summoned.

"They allegedly violated Point 14 of the first paragraph of Article 57 of the communicable diseases act, so the police initiated charges against them before the Maribor District Court. By gathering they are said to have posed considerable threat to public health in Slovenia even though they wore protective face masks and heeded physical distance," Podkrajšek pointed out.

The allegations will be challenged in court, he said, adding that if necessary, the initiative would seek legal recourse before the Constitutional Court.

"We will not let it happen, this intimidation against youth because they wish normal schooling in a way that would be best for them," he said.

The initiative believes that such summons, which were first reported by private broadcaster POP TV over the past weekend, will be issued to more persons since the six students received them on Friday and it is possible others are still on their way.

Similar rallies for return to brick-and-mortar schools were held in a number of other cities in Slovenia, but so far, only Maribor students have been summoned. If there are any others, the initiative urges them to contact the organisation to face the matter together.

Podkrajšek finds such measures unacceptable. He believes there is a trend in Slovenia of sanctioning those who oppose the current government. The summons target those who do not agree with the actions by the Education Ministry, he said, describing Education Minister Simona Kustec as "completely passive".

The initiative will continue to strive for a return of all secondary school students to in-classroom learning as soon as possible. Currently, only final years of secondary school and those attending lower occupational training programmes are allowed to be educated in person apart from primary school pupils.

"Smaller protest actions are in the making which will start to take place in the event the government does not make a decision on Wednesday for all secondary school students to return to school in a week or two," Podkrajšek said.

Violation of Article 57 of the communicable diseases act carries a fine of between EUR 400 and EUR 4,000. If the offence is deemed particularly grave, it could lead to heftier fines up to EUR 12,000.

The Maribor Police Department said that five persons were issued a fine of EUR 400 via mail in connection with the 9 February rally in Maribor. The police also brought charges against four underage individuals before the competent district court.

The police said that some 50 people attended the rally of which nine, holding posters or other objects demonstrating the purpose of the gathering, were ID'd as they violated Article 57/1-14 of the communicable diseases act, which refers to a temporary ban on gatherings.

They were all notified of the offences and those of age were informed the fines will be mailed, whereas the underage participants were told complaints will be initiated against them in line with the law, the police said.

STA, 13 January 2020 - Some hundred protesters gathered in Republic Square in front of the National Assembly building on Wednesday to air their disagreements with Covid restrictions, including mask-wearing, and vaccine recommendations. A relatively heavy police presence was in force for the protest, which was peaceful and ended in about two hours. 

The police warned the demonstrators that public gatherings were not permitted during the epidemic as a helicopter circled the rally. A perimeter fence was also erected around the parliament building.

The protesters were ID-ed and urged to disperse, but they did not comply with the requests, expressing their disagreement by whistling at police officers.

The protest was not held by organisers of Friday anti-government protests which left an indelible mark in 2020 but were suspended due to the second epidemic wave and are now only evoked by occasional protest actions that heed prevention measures.

The opposition parties have also distanced themselves from today's demonstration, which was announced on social media by the civil initiative Maske Dol (Down with Masks) with its initiator Anica Bidar urging participants to protest peacefully.

Addressing them in Republic Square, she said that "corrupt politics that restricts all the freedom" should be stopped. "We want to be free, healthy, so we spread peace, love and health," she added, announcing a repeat protest.

Another person who encouraged people to attend the protest and was present there was Anis Ličina, who is allegedly one of the main initiators of the violent 5 November demonstrations.

Today's protest saw a number of Slovenian flags as well as banners warning about what the protesters see as dangers of Covid-19 vaccination. Slovenia's anthem was also sung.

The police said ahead of the protest that they were not encroaching on people's rights to assembly and freedom of expression, but given the extreme situation it was key to protect public health and comply with Covid rules.

More than 200 violations established at Wednesday's protest

STA, 14 January 2020 - The police have so far established more than 200 violations of the Covid rules banning public gatherings that were processed at Wednesday's protest by anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers. Data gathered so far show no one was hurt during the demonstration, the Ljubljana Police Department said in a press release on Thursday. 

Coercive measures or the use of force by the police were applied against one person due to failure to comply with police orders.

So far, the police have established 118 violations of the public assembly act, 96 violations of the temporary Covid rules banning assemblies, one violation of the public order act and six violations of the ID act.

Objects that are not permitted at rallies were confiscated in six cases. Procedures have been launched against three persons - the protest's organisers.

The rally, which saw initially some 20 protesters gathering in Republic Square in front of the parliament building around 2pm, was also banned by an administrative decision, the police noted, adding they would continue with their investigation.

Altogether, the demonstration numbered some 100 protesters who oppose Covid restrictions. A relatively heavy police presence was in force for the protest, which was peaceful and ended in about two hours. Police officers IDed the demonstrators as a helicopter circled the rally.

The protest was not held by organisers of Friday anti-government protests, but was announced on social media by the civil initiative Maske Dol (Down with Masks) with its initiator Anica Bidar urging participants to protest peacefully.

Another person who encouraged people to attend the protest and was present there was Anis Ličina, who is allegedly one of the main initiators of the violent 5 November demonstrations.

STA, 4 December 2020 - The building housing the Culture Ministry was pelted with black paint overnight, in what has been described as yet another in a series of attacks on the ministry and its staff.

"Unknown perpetrators have caused taxpayers several thousand euros in damage with the complete destruction of the facade," the ministry said about what it described as the latest attack.

In a subsequent press statement, it added that this was an example of "inadmissible vandalism and destruction of public infrastructure, which is a reflection of a broader situation in the country."

Ponoči so neznanci davkoplačevalcem povzročili več tisoč evrov škode s popolnim uničenjem fasade @mk_gov_si. Eden izmed vrste napadov na ministrstvo in uslužbence, ki si sledijo iz tedna v teden. pic.twitter.com/Y8jZHbK8CY

— Ministrstvo za kulturo (@mk_gov_si) December 4, 2020

The ministry's employees are under immense pressure, to the point where they are afraid to go to work. The ministry resolutely rejects such reprehensible escalation of pressure," it said, calling on the police to find the perpetrators.

Deputy Police Commissioner Tomaž Pečjak told the press that criminal police officers were looking into the matter, and that relevant institutions and the media would be informed when the investigation was concluded.

The ministry has been heavily criticised by artists since the start of the epidemic. They said it has not done enough to help the arts through the crisis.

It has repeatedly denied these charges, pointing to furlough payments for all workers at cultural institutions, income support for freelancers, payment of social security contributions, and other measures directly and indirectly helping the arts.

Artists have staged several manifestations in front of the ministry building in recent months, at least one of which, an installation of desks with the names of senior staff covered in red paint, was described by the ministry as a death threat.

According to media reports, the authors of this protest, who have not been publicly identified, wanted to show that senior officials were killing culture with administrative moves.

The building itself has been spray-painted several times.

STA, 28 November 2020 - After a break of a few weeks, the Friday anti-government protesters hit the streets of Ljubljana again today, this time in cars and not on bicycles as usual, as public gatherings are banned under a government anti-coronavirus decree.

The protesters were circling the streets around the National Assembly building, and the police have beefed up security in the area, the public broadcaster TV Slovenija reported.

The drivers were honking horns and one of the cars had a bicycle affixed on its roof rack and a slogan saying "Attention. A falling government!". Some of the protesters were IDed by the police.

"Z dveh koles na štiri" - petkov protivladni #protest se je zaradi ukrepov med epidemijo s koles preselil v avtomobile. Protestniki vozijo po ljubljanskih ulicah in svoje nezadovoljstvo tokrat izražajo z glasnim hupanjem. @rtvslo @InfoTVSLO pic.twitter.com/1XZdmlQ0Zw

— Tina Hacler (@TinaHacler) November 27, 2020

In an announcement of the protest, the movement said it would take a drive around Ljubljana to "massively, loudly and visibly express criticism of the current authorities".

The protesters believe that the government has again proven that it "takes advantage of the epidemic for dictatorship, repression and violation of fundamental human rights, such as the right to expression".

Among other things, they are bothered by the latest anti-coronavirus legislation under which fines for organisers of gatherings in public places for the duration of the ban were raised to between EUR 1,200 and EUR 12,000.

The protesters argue that these are disproportionately high penalties which come as a result of distinctly political, and not expertise-based decisions.

They said they would not let the government silence the people and the increasingly loud and bitter criticism against it, and would not let the government put the blame and responsibility for the epidemiological situation on anyone but itself.

"The Friday protests never endangered people's health and there is no evidence whatsoever that infections were spread at the protests," the protesters said, adding that this was virtually impossible among cyclists who wear face masks.

They also announced that protests in cars would be held every Friday from now on until the ban was revoked.

STA, 24 November 2020 - The director of the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) Milan Krek was harassed by the rapper Zlatan Čordić - Zlatko, a prominent anti-masker, and another man on the street on Monday, drawing condemnation both from the NIJZ and the medical profession.

The event "constitutes an attack on an independent, professional public health institution, which is unprecedented," the NIJZ said in a written statement on Tuesday. It said Zlatko and the other man had communicated with Krek in an unacceptable and violent way.

"It is outrageous that something like this happens in a democratic country such as Slovenia," Krek said in a separate statement, adding that many had stopped him on the street before to ask him about the epidemic "but we always had a cultured dialogue, without traces of violence and notwithstanding our opinions, views and positions."

The statement came after Zlatko published a video on Facebook heckling and taunting Krek for several minutes while walking in a street alongside him in Ljubljana. He has since apologised and said it was not his intention to insult Krek in any way.

The incident also drew criticism from the Medical Chamber, which said it rejected "any intolerant communication and actions against health workers".

The head of the government's coronavirus task force, infectologist Bojana Beović, said Krek had dedicated his life to containing the epidemic and under his watch the NIJZ had made strides that had previously been unimaginable. "And then this is the thanks ... I'm at a loss for words."

The Slovenian Journalists' Association said, in reference to Zlatko saying that he was not a very good journalist, that anyone who is not a journalist posing as one was "inappropriate, unethical and damages the reporting profession".

Ljubljana police said they had been informed about the event and were gathering information concerning illegal video recording. They have also initiated proceedings to fine the offenders for breach of coronavirus restrictions.

Zlatko has been a prominent opponent of the mask mandate and recently triggered uproar when he snatched a camera from a Nova24TV crew member at a protest in front of Parliament House.

STA, 12 November 2020 - As a protest turned violent in Ljubljana last Thursday, the police used rubber bullets - typically used in riot control or to disperse protest - for the first time since the country gained independence, the Ljubljana Police Department (LPD) said in a press release on Wednesday. 

The LPD gave a news conference already a day after the violent protest, when chief Stanislav Vrečar said 15 police officers had been injured, of whom five needed medical attention. He also assessed that the use of force by police against the rioters had been proportionate.

Related: Violence Between Protesters & Police in Ljubljana (Videos)

Yesterday the police provided additional information about the use of force given that rubber bullets had been used against protesters for the first time since 1991 last week.

The LPD said the police had fired 16 gas and five rubber bullets against protesters because the crowd had not heeded the police orders to stop throwing granite pavement cubes, other dangerous objects and pyrotechnical devices into the police officers, endangering their lives and health.

It explained it had used sponge bullets, which are considered to be the safest for persons targeted. They were fired from 30-40 metres and only against those individuals who were seen throwing objects at the police officers.

The sponge bullets were fired with a shoulder-fired B&T GL06 40 mm grenade launcher, the police said, adding that available data showed they had not injured anybody.

The LPD also said that the use of rubber bullets is allowed under the same conditions as tear gas and is set down in the law on tasks and powers of the police.

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 5 November 2020. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Janša a "serious problem" for Slovenia and Europe

STA, 6 November 2020 - The latest editorial of the left-leaning weekly Mladina says that the US election tweets by PM Janez Janša have put Slovenia on the international map, but not in the way that Foreign Minister Anže Logar meant when he said Slovenia was returning to the international arena.

"We are finally recognized as a country with a clearly emotionally unstable and politically unreasonable prime minister. From this week we no longer have to explain to anyone in international politics why we have a problem and that our problem is serious. But it is not only us who have a problem: Europe now knows that it has a problem as well," Mladina says on Friday under the headline Black Week.

It says Janša has demonstrated that he knows little about diplomacy or is not really interested in it and that he does not care about Slovenia's international reputation. It speaks of a selfish modus operandi similar to that of US President Donald Trump, driven by populism and the perception of politics primarily as a business opportunity.

"But we need to wonder about something else that is more important at this moment. How can this person occupy himself with the US election in a week where more than 20 people die every day, when the figures are as bad as they can get," says Mladina. "Does he really not have even a bit of empathy? Are we dealing with a sociopath?"

Mladina argues the US will suffer long lasting consequences after a single Trump term. "The same goes for Slovenia: every additional month under Janša is distorting this society further, deforming its values, the real picture."

Seeing hope in the centre-left coalition formed recently under the leadership of economist Jože P. Damijan, Mladina calls for a vote of no-confidence as soon as possible, saying "this is not only about international reputation or about staffing, it is about health and lives".

Demokracija: Opposition’s needless attacks on Janša

STA, 5 November 2020 - The government is not taking any measures that would actually require street protests, and perhaps this is precisely the reason why the left-leaning opposition wants to create a state of emergency in politics, the right-wing weekly Demokracija says in its latest commentary.

The right-leaning weekly says that the opposition would apparently rather let a hundred people more die than help the government of Janez Janša and admit that it is successfully managing the virus from Wuhan.

"The instigation of fear of Janša has revealed a deep, horrifying chasm between reality and what the media project as reality. And in this vortex of egotistic opposition, there comes the leftist foursome with the idea that the government should be taken down."

It could be said that the idea is surrealist if it was not floated by a "revolutionary coalition of the mainstream media and deep state", where candidates supported by the mafia are being presented as saviours", headlined by Jože P. Damijan (JPD).

Demokracija says that Damijan is a man who had walked the path of classical economic liberalism until he realised that being impressed with socialist ideas is much more profitable for him.

It was then that the media started presenting him as a "candidate for prime minister-designate", or as "possible prime minister-designate" who is starting talks with the leftist political parties, with which he is supposed to form a government.

"This is not funny, this is tragic: in the JPD case, the mainstream media behaves as if elections in Slovenia are just around the corner or as if the centre-right government has resigned. But neither of this happened, and JPD is currently nobody.

"He is not even a useful idiot who has warmed up to the idea of being prime minister-designate without realising why he came into the spotlight in the first place. It has turned out that JPD was an idiot even before he became useful," concludes the commentary People Who Were Idiots Before They Became Useful.

All our posts in this series are here

STA, 5 November 2020 - A violent protest organised above all by Anonymous Slovenia took place in Ljubljana city centre, with protesters clashing with the police, using flares and throwing granite pavement cubes at the riot police. The police have used a water cannon for the first time since 2012.

After clashes broke out in the afternoon in front of the Parliament House, the police pushed the protesters, there were several hundred, from the Republic Square, dispersing them along several streets in city centre. Some are rallying against the government, others against coronavirus measures.

Trying to bring the riot under control, the police also used a water cannon, while a police helicopter was circling over the city centre the whole time.

The protests caused some damage on buildings and other infrastructure, as rioters threw granite pavement, and also aimed flares and other pyrotechnical devices at the police, as well as yelling "sheep" and "crooks" at the police.

The head of the Ljubljana Police Administration Stanislav Vrečar said in the evening that some 500 people were protesting and that was clear that they had no interest in peaceful protests. Ten have been arrested.

He said that a fight that broke out around 5pm was the point marking when the protest turned into a riot. In addition to the water canon, gas was also used later in Prešeren Square, said Vrečar, adding that public order was reestablished at around 7pm.

Several police officers have been mildly injured, he said, but could not yet give a number as some were still working. Most of the injuries were caused by pavement cubes. "If a cube hits your helmet, that's a nasty concussion, believe me," he illustrated.

According to his information there were no severe injuries among the police or civilians. He said the Ljubljana police force was aided by officers from other parts of the country but would not give a number, as today's intervention is not yet over.

Prime Minister Janez Janša tweeted support for the police officers, saying that peaceful protests when there is no epidemic are a constitutional right, but riots and physical violence against the police are criminal acts. He commended the police for being professional.

Podpora @policija_si za profesionalno opravljeno delo, za varovanje premoženja in ljudi. Mirni protesti, ko ni epidemije in nevarnosti okužb, so ustavna pravica. Ragrajanje in fizično nasilje ter napadi na policiste pa so vedno in povsod kriminalna dejanja, ki bodo kaznovana. https://t.co/crQ17pnnzo

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) November 5, 2020

According to media reports, Interior Minister Aleš Hojs also expressed support for the police officers on the ground today. He attributed part of the responsibility for the protests turning violent to the media. "You've supported and fed them for months... and now here you have wounded police officers," he told a reporter of the commercial broadcaster POP TV.

The Ljubljana Police Administration has meanwhile said that the situation is under control.

Two civilians reportedly sustained serious injuries and were taken to hospital.

Several media outlets reported that their news crews had been shoved around, while a photographer was reportedly injured.

The Slovenian Journalists' Association (DNS) condemned the violence, saying that a photojournalist had to seek medical aid at the emergency department after being attacked by as yet unknown perpetrator.

"We reiterate that any violence is unacceptable and that such conditions cannot become standard work risk environment for journalists and cameramen performing their mission of gathering and communicating information to the public, who deserve to be kept up t date," the DNS stated.

The association understands Hojs's comment that media share the responsibility for today's riots as pressure on the work of journalists and media, and as yet another attempt by the government to lay the blame for the epidemic and all that is bad at the media's door.

The Trade Union of Police Officers of Slovenia, one of the two biggest police unions, expressed concern today in a tweet over "irresponsible behaviour of individuals... acting violently, unaware of the consequences of their acts in what are demanding times health-wise".

The protest and riots were also condemned "in the strongest terms" by Defence Minister Matej Tonin, who tweeted that such conduct was at least irresponsible at a time when all efforts were devoted to fighting the virus and helping people and healthcare. "Violence has no place in Slovenian society, and cannot be acceptable even as expression of disagreement," the New Slovenia (NSi) leader tweeted.

Earlier this afternoon the protest movement organising the Friday bicycle protests against the government distanced itself from today's rally because some of the organisers called on people to disregard the health protection measures in place and to use violence.

RTV Slovenia's news portal also said that the Friday protestors had warned days ago that coronavirus-deniers and conspiracy theory groups had started calling to protests against the government.

Anonymous responded to this by tweeting that this was proof that the Friday protestors were not serious and did not really want Prime Minister Janez Janša gone.

Meanwhile, public gatherings in Slovenia are still capped to only six persons due to the coronavirus situation and with the country in second lockdown this year.