Slovenian court postpones Knovs case trial for four NSi members

The Ljubljana District Court has postponed the summary trial for four prominent members of the NSi party involved in the Knovs case. The hearing, originally scheduled for Thursday, has been rescheduled for December 22 following requests from defense attorneys.

The Specialized State Prosecutor's Office has charged Janez Žakelj, Matej Tonin, Jernej Vrtovec, and Jožef Horvat with abuse of position. The charges stem from an unannounced inspection conducted by the Commission for the Supervision of Intelligence and Security Services (Knovs) at the Police in November 2023. The investigation focused on whether the police were monitoring 15 specific phone numbers, including those belonging to certain NSi members and businessman Valentin Hajdinjak.

Prosecutors allege that Žakelj and Tonin abused their positions by informing certain individuals that they were not under surveillance. While Vrtovec and Horvat were not present during the inspection, they are charged for their alleged involvement in the decision to conduct the oversight. The accused maintain that the inspection was lawful and have characterized the legal proceedings as political persecution. Matej Tonin, currently a Member of the European Parliament, had claimed parliamentary immunity, which was denied by the European Parliament.