SOLIDARITY WITH JOURNALISTS PROTESTING AGAINST VIOLENCE

Ljubljana, 2 March 2001


"I am appalled at the violence which caused Mr Miro Petek, a journalist for the Vecer daily, such severe injuries. Please convey to the reporters and editors of your paper my solidarity for their protest against violence, as well as my best wishes to Mr Miro Petek, hoping for his quick recovery and return to his work," President Milan Kucan writes today in a letter to the editor of the Vecer daily.

President Kucan also added that this sad case is a reminder of recurring attempts at individuals' taking violent action against others instead of seeking justice through the channels of law when they believe they have been the victims of injustice. All such cases call for the condemnation of any violence whatsoever against anyone, for we want to be a country of democratic and humane values, a country in which we are able to live free and tolerant creative lives with one another, not one against the other. This and other such acts cannot leave us complacent. They call for protest and appropriate measures. It is justifiably expected that the competent authorities will do everything in order to find the perpetrators of this contemptible act and bring them before a court of law.