Not guilty verdict / Judicial proceedings / Harassment - SVN 001 / 0406 / OBS 040.1

16/06/2006
Urgent Appeal

The Observatory has been informed by a reliable source that the District Court of Ljubljana declared Ms. Neva Miklavcic-Predan, President of the Helsinki Monitor in Slovenia (HMS), not guilty of “slander”.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Slovenia.


New information:

According to the information received, on May 30, 2006, a not guilty verdict was pronounced in favour of Ms. Neva Miklavcic-Predan, due to the fact that the State prosecutor did not provide any evidence for the defamation charges against her. Indeed, Ms. Miklavcic-Predan was prosecuted for "slander" under articles 171/1, 2, 3 of the Criminal Code (See background information), and was facing from three months up to two years in prison if found guilty.

However, the Prosecutor announced that she was going to lodge an appeal. The judge of the District Court of Ljubljana has now to write an explanation to his oral verdict, which was written down in a short form in the minutes of the last court hearing. The explanation of the verdict is expected on July 7, 2006, and then the Prosecutor has 15 days to file the appeal. But as the Court will be on vacations from July 15 to August 15, 2006, the deadline will actually fall at the end of August.

Moreover, the two other criminal proceedings against Ms. Miklavcic-Predan (See background information) remain pending.

The Observatory thanks all the persons, organisations and institutions, which intervened in favour of Ms. Neva Miklavcic-Predan, and urges the Slovenian authorities to put an end to any kind of harassment against Ms. Miklavcic-Predan, and ensure that her right to a fair and impartial trial be guaranteed in any circumstances.


Background information:

A first trial was originally filed against Ms. Miklavcic-Predan in 2003 by 26 veterans of the Slovene independence war after Ms. Miklavcic-Predan organised, on May 28, 2003, a press conference at the office of the Helsinki Monitor of Slovenia. This conference followed the return of the former Slovenian president, Mr. Milan Kucan, from the Hague (The Netherlands), where he had been invited as a witness before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), in the case against Mr. Slobodan Milosevic, former President of Serbia. Among other things, the Vic-Holmec case[1] and the killing of three soldiers of the Yugoslav National Army came up during the trial, and some documents of the Helsinki Monitor of Slovenia were also discussed. One of them, a press release issued in February 1999, referred to the Vi

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