Ljubljana/Velenje - Janez Janša, the former PM and head of the opposition Democrats (SDS), posted photographs of the judgement by the Velenje District Court on Twitter in the early hours on Tuesday, including one showing a public written apology to the Social Democrats (SD) over his claim that the party operated from a "stolen Jewish villa".

In August, the Celje Higher Court upheld the October 2021 ruling of the Velenje Distict Court ordering the opposition party's leader to apologize to the SD and pay EUR 10,000 in damages.

The posted photographs show the introductory part of the default judgement, the judgement itself, and the public apology Janša was ordered to issue, respectively.

The web portal N1 was first to report on the post, noting that Janša did not actually write the apology himself, but rather just posted parts of the judgement to apologize.

"This is a rather dismal apology, and not a real one at all, the Social Democrats told the STA, adding in a press release that the apology clearly shows Janša has admitted to lying about "the stolen Jewish villa". "We hope after this apology Janša will finally stop intentionally lying to the public, spreading hate speech, and manipulating," they also noted.

The party says Janša has not yet paid them EUR 10,000 in damages. If he does not do so within the time limit set by the court, they will "use legal remedies."

The villa in question is located at 15 Levstikova Street in Ljubljana and serves as the headquarters of the SD party.

The Velenje court ordered Janša to issue a public apology on Twitter within 15 days after the ruling became final. The post had to contain the introductory and operative parts of the judgement, as well as an apology saying "I, Ivan (Janez) Janša, the Defendant, apologize to the Plaintiff, the SD party, for the false statements I have made on Twitter over SD operating from a stolen Jewish villa at 15 Levstikova Street in Ljubljana. The villa was not stolen and the SD party gained ownership of it legally."