Tougher measures against the pandemic in Slovenia have led to Slovenians being penalised for minor offences such as eating a sandwich alone in the street, Euronews reports.
The Slovenian government is paying thousands of fines issued to citizens who violated regulations on camouflage and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The fines issued between March 2020 and May 2022 totalled about 5.7 million euros. Under legislation put forward by the country’s centre-left government, the 1.7 million euros that were actually paid as fines will now be refunded.
Proceedings to enforce the fines will be dropped and all offences will be struck from people’s official records. Among the tens of thousands of people awaiting refunds is a delivery driver who was photographed surrounded by police after he lowered his mask as he sat away from bystanders and wanted a snack.
A video of a man being fined 400 euros has sparked a storm of outrage among Slovenians, who see police enforcement of blocking rules as excessive.
The bill passed in September was clearly articulated by current Justice Minister Dominika Švarc Pipan as an attempt to compensate for the excesses of the pandemic police under the previous government – or, as she put it, “injustices that were committed against citizens through abuse of criminal law and unconstitutional and excessive encroachment on human rights”.
Like most other countries in the world, Slovenia has faced protests against some of its tough pandemic measures, and not just from relatively extreme anti-vaccine groups. Among the measures imposed by the right-wing government were restrictions on movement, assembly and a requirement to wear masks in the open.
In the last parliamentary elections held in April 2022, this government was replaced by a centre-left coalition. On the night of his election, current Prime Minister Robert Golob celebrated “a victory that will allow us to return the country to freedom.”
