Slovenian Journalist Prosecuted for Publishing Secret Intelligence

Photo: Matej Družnik/Delo

Delic, who works for leading Slovenian daily newspaper Delo, could face three years in prison if she is convicted of publishing classified information about  alleged connections between members of the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party, SDS, and neo-Nazi group Blood and Honour.

After more than a year and a half of deliberation, a judge in Ljubljana ruled last week that Delic must stand trial, but the journalist insisted that the charges against her were politically-motivated.

“I am convinced this case against me is political – revenge, because I discovered things the state was hiding. Top officials knew about the activities and identities of Blood and Honour,” Delic told BIRN.

Delic published several stories shortly before the Slovenian parliamentary elections in 2011 in which she discussed the alleged connections between SDS members and the neo-Nazis.

The Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency, which had been investigating right-wing extremism in Slovenia following the Anders Breivik shootings in Norway in 2011, argued that the information she used for her report had been illegally acquired from its files, prompting a criminal inquiry.

Despite the scandal caused by the articles, the SDS came second in the elections and took power under Prime Minister Janez Jansa after the first-placed party failed to form a coalition. However the SDS then lost power in 2013, and is currently in opposition.

Delic said that the prosecution had also tried to gain access to her telephone records.
“I expected this [the trial], but I am surprised that the prosecution sought a warrant to access my phone records. Luckily, the court denied it,” she said.

According to Delo, a pre-trial hearing has been set for mid-October. 

The International Press Institute (IPI), which campaigns for media freedom, strongly criticised the legal action against Delic.

“Journalists have a right to report on questions of public interest – as the topic of Ms. Delic’s reporting obviously was – and we struggle to see what compelling state interest justifies this prosecution,” IPI Press Freedom Manager Barbara Trionfi said in a statement.

“Furthermore, it goes without saying that while an intelligence agency may understandably wish to locate the source of a leak, it may not do so by pressuring or harassing the media,” she added.