The Internal Affairs Inspectorate told the STA on Tuesday that it had initiated proceedings against RTV Slovenija on suspicion that the broadcaster violated legislation by airing the Viktors show during the campaign ahead of Sunday's referendum on the family law.

Violation of the election and referendum campaign act carries a fine of EUR 1500-2000 for the media outlet and EUR 150-200 for the official responsible.

Aired in Saturday prime time, the show saw award presenters making jokes about fears held by conservatives of what will happen if the family law is endorsed on Sunday and same-sex couples get almost equal rights as married couples.

To contain the damage, the management of RTV Slovenija decided that the show would not be available for online viewing, arguing that the broadcaster had been "abused for political campaigning".

The issue was discussed at Tuesday's session of the RTV Slovenija Programming Council. RTV Slovenija director general Marko Filli expressed his view that the broadcaster would be fined for airing the show.

TV Slovenija director Janez Lombergar said that the authors of the show had been instructed to avoid topics related to the family law or mayoral by-elections, but that what the presenters said at the dress rehearsal was not the same as what they said in the live broadcast.

Lombergar also said that the satire at the show was mostly bad old jokes. This was echoed by council member Sergij Pelhan, who agreed with the management's decision not to make the show available for online viewing.

Meanwhile, council member Miran Lesjak urged the management to make the recording available online as the decision not to would only encourage people to look for the show on Youtube.