Ljubljana mayor ordered to face retrial

Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković faces a retrial over alleged EU funds fraud in the Stožice sports complex after the Ljubljana Higher Court quashed a 2023 ruling acquitting him and co-defendants.

The 72-year-old, who has been serving as mayor since 2006, was laconic in his response, telling the Slovenian Press Agency that he always respected court rulings because courts rather than the street was where justice can be served, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

He has been subject to criminal proceedings in several cases, including three linked to his flagship project of the Stožice football stadium and arena, inaugurated in 2010, but has never been convicted.

The case that will now go into retrial involves an allegedly bogus contract between Ljubljana and Grep, the main contractor for Stožice, which showed Grep as a creditworthy company. This allowed it to take out a bank loan, while the city was able to get €9.4 million in EU and national funds.

The case involves seven defendants. Janković was charged with abuse of office for large unlawful gain and with fraud to the prejudice of European communities. Co-defendants, including Grep and former city officials, were charged with complicity in the crime.

All defendants were acquitted at the Ljubljana District Court in June 2023, but the prosecution, who sought a combined sentence of 7 years and 10 months in prison for Janković on the two alleged counts, succeeded in their appeal.

The Special Prosecution Service told the newspaper Dnevnik, which first broke the news, that the Higher Court had ordered a retrial under a new judge.

Along with six other defendants, including one of his sons, Janković still faces proceedings in another Stožice-related case, concerning alleged abuse of office in connection to a contract for the purchase of an engine room in Stožice. In the pre-trial hearing in December 2021 all the defendants pleaded not guilty.