Janković's case puts judiciary in a bad light
Ljubljana, 5 December - Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković appears to have won a major legal battle against the prosecution as the Ljubljana Higher Court upheld a district court judge's decision to order destruction of phone-tapping evidence against him on the grounds that a two-year deadline to start prosecution was missed.
Ljubljana
Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković and his lawyer awaited by reporters in front of the Ljubljana court house.
Photo: Anže Malovrh/STA
File photo
The decision, which is seen as a departure from case law, concerns evidence in a case in which Janković is suspected of soliciting sexual favours from a pharmacist in exchange for getting her a job with the city-owned pharmacy chain, but may also affect other, bigger cases against him allegedly built on the wiretaps, as well as other cases.
The ruling was met with widespread indignation with some seeing it as proof that double standards apply in Slovenia. Arguing that the interpretation of the criminal procedure act adopted by the court would make it very hard or even impossible to prosecute in some cases, the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office filed an appeal on a point of law, while parliament passed an authentic interpretation of the law to specify the two-year deadline as non-mandatory.