Ex-Slovenian PM gets two years for bribery

LJUBLJANA: Former Slovenian premier Janez Jansa was yesterday sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of giving and receiving backhanders in the eurozone country’s biggest-ever defense deal.
Jansa, prime minister until February, was found “guilty on the charges of giving or receiving bribery or bribery promises in the acquisition of armored vehicles” from Finnish defense firm Patria, judge Barbara Klajnsek ruled.
Jansa, who has protested his innocence and has slammed the lengthy trial as a political witch-hunt, has said he would appeal the verdict, meaning the 54-year-old will not be put behind bars for now.
Several hundred of his supporters held a demonstration outside the Ljubljana courthouse after the verdict.
The center-right Jansa lost a confidence vote in February after only a year in office after allegations of tax irregularities by the national corruption watchdog prompted three parties to quit his coalition.
The accusation added to public anger about a corrupt political elite just as the country of two million people struggles with recession and fights to avoid becoming the sixth eurozone member to need a bailout.
Jansa’s successor Alenka Bratusek has launched an action plan of privatisations and structural reforms and has secured two more years from Brussels to bring Slovenia’s budget deficit under the eurozone limit
Jansa was also fined 37,000 euros ($ 48,350) at the end of the 21-month trial together with two other defendants, Defense Ministry official Tone Krkovic and middle man Ivan Crnkovic, who were given 22 months.
The 278-million-euro deal with Patria signed in 2006 for 135 armoured vehicles was part of Slovenian efforts to modernise its military after joining the NATO alliance in 2004, the same year it became a member of the European Union.
Weeks before 2008 parliamentary elections, a Finnish television report alleged that several high-ranking Slovenian officials, including Jansa, had had their palms greased by Patria.
Issuing yesterday’s ruling, judge Klajnsek said Jansa accepted that a commission would be paid to his centre-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) if the deal with Patria was signed.
In April, an Austrian court found Patria middleman Wolfgang Riedl guilty of bribery, attempted fraud and tax evasion for his role in channelling hundreds of thousands of euros to Slovenia.
Another trial was launched also in Finland against senior Patria executives suspected to have participated in promising or giving bribes to Slovenian officials.
Jansa has denied the accusations that started in 2011, claiming they are politically motivated.
Several hundred flag-waving supporters rallied Wednesday outside the court to protest the ruling, which was described as a “landmark verdict” by the official STA news agency.
The court sentenced the men who were tried with Jansa, to 22 months in prison each and ordered all three to pay 37,000 euros ($ 48,400) each in fines.
Jansa, the leader of opposition Slovenian Democratic Party, has served twice as prime minister since the country became independent in 1991. His center-right government was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote earlier this year after an anti-graft body accused him of corruption when he failed to declare more than 200,000 euros ($ 261,800) worth of private assets.
Small eurozone nation Slovenia has been hit by a severe recession and is struggling to avoid an international bailout. Allegations of widespread corruption among the country’s political elite have triggered street protests in the past