Ljubljana - The prosecution has dismissed a criminal complaint police filed against Zoran Stevanović, the leader of the non-parliamentary party Resni.ca (Truth), over suspicion of incitement to resistance for having urged people to go to protests against anti-coronavirus measures, the party says in a press release.

Stevanović, one of the main initiators of protests against the Covid pass mandate, was detained during the 5 October protest in Ljubljana, which turned violent.

Stevanović, an ex-police officer, in fact turned himself in during the protest after "being under constant threat of being arrested for the duration of the protest", the party said at the time.

He was detained for 47 hours and released after the police completed the searches of his home and the party's premises in Kranj.

The General Police Administration filed the criminal complaint against him over suspicion of incitement to resistance, but a state prosecutor in Kranj dismissed it on 24 December.

The party says this proves Stevanović's detention and the house searches were unlawful, so he intends to press charges.

The party says the police was informed about a document of the prosecution which says that Stevanović did not commit any crime before detaining him.

It thus sees the detention and house searches as political abuse of the police by Interior Minister Aleš Hojs and Prime Minister Janez Janša.

"This is the first political squaring of accounts with a certain politician and a party through the repressive apparatus in Slovenia's history," it says.

Resni.ca adds Stevanović is also the first person to be suspected of incitement to resistance, a crime punishable by up to three years in prison.