The Ljubljana Local Court ruled that the charges against five people in the investigation of corruption related to Slovenia's biggest defence contract are admissible, the court reported. The suspects, who reportedly include Janez Janša, the former prime minister, will now be informed of the charges against them.
Slovenian media reported in August that Janša faces charges of soliciting a bribe in return for helping Finnish defence company Patria win the 2006 tender for 135 armoured personnel carriers (APCs).
Janša has denied any involvement in the selection process and accused the prosecution of orchestrating a political campaign against him.
Apart from Janša, charges in connection to the Patria deal have also reportedly been filed against Joze Zagožen, a senior member of the Slovenian Democrats (SDS); businessman Walter Wolf; army officer Tone Krkovič, a close associate of Jansa's; and Ivan Crnkovic, the boss of Rotis, the Slovenian company selected to supply the armoured personnel carriers from Patria.
The court's vice president, Matjaz Voglar, refused to go into detail of the decision today, noting that the court would not give more information until the suspects receive the notices of indictment.
The four, bar Wolf, who has not responded to the accusations yet, rejected any wrongdoing while expressing indignation over the fact that weekly Mladina reported about the indictment before they had been officially notified of it.
The Slovenia Times