Slovenian police have initiated a criminal complaint against Prime Minister Robert Golob related to allegations by a former interior minister that he interfered in the work of the police force, a charge that Golob denies.

The Specialised State Prosecutor's Office revealed on 16 October the criminal complaint involved what the Penal Code terms "giving of gifts for illegal intervention", an offence that carries between one and six years in prison.

The complaint is related to claims by Tatjana Bobnar, the first interior minister in the Golob government, that Golob had pushed for staffing changes in the force to rid it of staff loyal to the previous government, led by Janez Janša.

"This is not about meddling in the police force, it is a political fight of an insulted politician that Tatjana Bobnar started when she resigned two years ago," said Golob.

Bobnar first made the allegation of interference shortly before stepping down in December 2022 when she said Golob had exerted undue pressure on her regarding staffing in the force, because he wanted certain individuals purged from the force.

Golob points finger back at Bobnar

But Golob pointed his finger back at Bobnar, who now works as an advisor to President Nataša Pirc Musar.

"Bobnar was the one who sought me out before the election, when she still worked in the police force. She came to see me twice, at her own initiative, and she was the one who talked about lists of Janšists that she would purge from the force if she became minister." And this is why she became minister, Golob said.

In a reference to police response to the anti-government protests during the previous government, Golob said it has been three years since "Ljubljana was tear-gassed" and the only politician facing a criminal complaint during all this time was himself.

He said the meeting between Bobnar and him was "a conversation between two politicians".

"It is the word of one politician against another and I find it bizarre that we are now discussing a criminal complaint initiated on that by the police."

Golob says Russian spy allegations "proven lies"

He said he trusted the rule of law and would refute the allegations by the legal route. "But I also trust that I will be able to dismiss allegations in other cases, just as I did with allegations of interfering in Russian spy arrests, which have turned out to be made-up lies."

Bobnar and her police commissioner Boštjan Lindav accused Golob of trying to interfere in staffing in the police force and of having intervened to change the date of the arrest of two suspected Russian spies in late 2022 when they testified at a parliamentary inquiry in October 2023.

Golob said those allegations had been proven a lie, even though he himself was not able to respond to the allegations about meddling in the arrests of Russian spies because of the sensitivity of the matter, but other witnesses denied the allegations.

The two spies have since been handed over to Russia as part of one of the biggest exchanges of prisoners between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War.

Bobnar stands by her words

Responding to Golob's latest comments, Bobnar said she "stands by" her words, with her lawyer Luka Švab detailing that she "stands by all her statements she presented extensively both before the parliamentary inquiry and the state authorities".

Bobnar had reported Golob to State Prosecutor's Office and to the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption in December 2022 "because, as a jurist and public official, she assessed that there was suspicion of a criminal offence which is prosecuted ex officio", her lawyer said.

"In order for me to continue serving as minister, someone would have to lose a job," Bobnar told the parliamentary inquiry into the matter in October 2023 in what was the most explicit accusation against the prime minister.

Her lawyer detailed that her position as minister had been made conditional upon action against certain individuals within the police, who had no connection to any breaches or abuses of police powers in the past but were, for reasons unknown to her, seemingly targeted for removal.

He rejected Golob's claims that Bobnar, who refused to comply, had sought contact with him: "Far from asking anyone for anything, she was invited to meetings. She was repeatedly asked to join the party, which she refused."

Since Bobnar is no longer a politician Švab said the suggestion that she engaged in a political battle was absurd and inappropriate.

Mixed political response

While his party described the criminal complaint as an attempt to overthrow the government, the two junior coalition partners emphasized it was now up to the relevant authorities to do their job.

Meanwhile, the opposition New Slovenia (NSi) said that Golob's reaction to the complaint raised even more questions than it answered.

Based on the complaint, the prosecution may drop the charges if it finds there is insufficient evidence, it may ask the police to supplement them, it may ask a court to initiate a criminal investigation or it may indict Golob directly.