Thousands of Slovenians protest against government

Thousands of people demonstrated Friday in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, accusing the government of corruption and of taking advantage of the pandemic linked to the new coronavirus to restrict public freedoms. "Thieves!" or "Down with the government!" , chanted the demonstrators, wearing protective masks, gathered in front of the parliament protected by a cordon of police. They were 10,000, according to the private TV channel POP TV.

The demonstration was organized by "Protestival," a citizen movement supported by certain opposition parties, including that of former Prime Minister Marjan Sarec, whose resignation in February, following dissensions within the coalition that he animated, paved the way for the nationalist Janez Jansa. Marjan Sarec had supported the demonstrators, explaining that they had a common goal: "to prevent this corrupt government from remaining in power" .

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International organizations including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have expressed concern that the Jansa government will take advantage of measures to combat the pandemic to suppress media reporting on alleged corruption l 'involving, for example concerning the supply of protective equipment or medical equipment. The Minister of Economy Zdravko Pocivalsek, at the center of the accusations, denied them.

Slovenia has reported 1,450 cases of SARS-CoV-2 contamination and 100 deaths, for a population of two million.