Ljubljana - A court has dismissed misdemeanour proceedings the police initiated against former National Assembly Speaker Pavel Gantar for his October 2021 tweet that the then police commissioner found offensive.

Anton Olaj, at the time police commissioner, filed a complaint because Gantar had allegedly insulted the police and police officers with his post.

Gantar, who was speaker between 2008 and 2011, wrote that "organised gangs of citizens are circling around the city throwing tear gas at unsuspecting people and pouring water on them".

This was in response to a Twitter user who said four days after the 5 October protest in Ljubljana, during which the police used a water cannon and tear gas, that the quality of life in Ljubljana was deteriorating because of the anti-government protests.

Gantar later explained that his tweet was meant ironically, but Olaj that said it was insulting regardless of who had written it or whom it targetted.

Acting on Olaj's formal complaint, a police station in Dolenjske Toplice issued a EUR 250 fine based on the protection of public order law.

Today, Gantar said on Twitter that the Novo Mesto Local Court had dismissed the misdemeanour proceedings on the basis of an appeal on a point of law.

The court says, according to Gantar, that the tweet does not amount what the protection of public order law defines as violent and reckless behaviour.

According to the court, Gantar's tweet was critical of the police's actions during the 5 October protest but it concerns a matter of public interest.

By posting it, he expressed his opinion on the police conduct at the rally, "which he is entitled to do because of his freedom of expression".

Olaj said on Twitter today he stood by his claim that demeaning police officers was insulting and framed his action as an attempt to protect the integrity of the force.