Janša to "Fight to the End", Says Conviction Political
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Janša framed the verdict in political terms, claiming it was "written in advance in Murgle and by known authors," a reference to the residence of Former President Milan Kučan.
He announced he would use "all legal means", starting with an appeal within 15 days, as well as "all political means", which he refused to specify despite multiple requests to clarify.
He only said he would use all political means in the segment related to the politically-motivated trial for the verdict to be reversed. "This ruling will never hold," he said.
The ruling is moreover "a slap in the face of all those who after all believed Slovenia was a kind of a rule of law where politically-motivated trials are not possible any more". "Unfortunately we were wrong."
He reiterated his view that the indictment as well as the ruling were vague, wondering how he could have defended himself from no concrete allegation.
"How can I explain that I was not at an unknown place on an unknown day? How can I explain that I did not receive a promise of a reward in an unspecified manner of communication?"
Janša also said he had never been in touch with the people mentioned in relation to the Patria case, adding that he first heard about Patria's local partner Rotis only when it was making headlines in relation to the Patria deal.
Those who have got the money from the deal are not subject to court proceedings or are subject to some minor Patria trial or have been letto disappear, said Janša.
"One of them in is Canada," he said in reference to Canada-based businessman Walter Wolf of Slovenian descent, who is being sought with an international arrest warrant after missing several recent trial dates in Ljubljana.
Meanwhile, asked today by public broadcaster TV Slovenija if he would return to Slovenia, Wolf said he was not crazy to do so. "I can't be convicted if I'm not in court."
Janša was sentenced to two years in prison while two co-defendants, Brigadier Tone Krkovič, an alleged middleman, and Ivan Črnkovič, the boss of Patria's Slovenian partner Rotis, were sentenced to 22 months in prison. The three men were also ordered to pay EUR 37,000 in fines each.
Much like Janša, Krkovič and Črnkovič decried the conviction and reiterated they had done nothing wrong and that the judge did nothing but follow the reasoning of the prosecution.
"This is a farce, a disgrace for Slovenia," Črnkovič said, claiming that the judge had failed to take into account a single evidence presented in almost two years of proceedings.
Krkovič said the conviction was an "absurd injustice", reiterating that he had nothing at all to do with the Patria deal.
Both plan to appeal the verdict.