Corona: Slovenia pays nearly 6 million euros in fines to citizens Policy

Corona: Slovenia pays nearly 6 million euros in fines to citizens Policy

Slovenia initiated about 62,000 lawsuits for violating the Corona regulations in force at the time between March 2020 and May 2022. Fines totaling more than 5.7 million euros were imposed.

Now the Slovenian Parliament has passed a law abolishing the sanctions. People who had to pay will get their money back, including the costs of the procedure. This was reported by the Austrian newspaper „Krone” and German “BILD“. Ongoing actions will be stopped completely.

Social Democratic Justice Minister Dominika Švarc Pipan said that the state bears a moral responsibility towards the law. They want to correct the injustice done to citizens “through the abuse of criminal law and through unconstitutional and excessive interference with human rights.” “I hope this is a lesson for us so that something like this never happens again.”

Background to the change of course

Slovenia’s Corona policy was changed under right-wing conservative Prime Minister Janez Jansa. A coalition led by social liberal Robert Gollup has been in power since April 2022.

Political observers say Jansa’s tough approach cost the 65-year-old his job. Many Slovenians were angry about the Corona measures, some of which the court later declared unconstitutional. Others saw these regulations, including the ban on demonstrations, as an attempt to undermine the rule of law.

The situation in Germany

Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus, parliamentary director and health expert in the AfD parliamentary group, had filed a lawsuit with the Federal Constitutional Court against the curfew at the time. When asked by BILD magazine, she said: “In the past, many measures were disproportionate and ineffective. Unlike in Slovenia, our Federal Constitutional Court has not classified these measures as fundamentally unconstitutional. Therefore, I consider it legally impossible to recover the fines.”

Meanwhile, a new vaccination campaign against Corona has begun in this country. The preparations are intended to protect against the Omicron branch XBB.1.5. However, there are criticisms. Because: There are six packs in the bottles from the manufacturer Biontech/Pfizer. Since only the elderly and people with pre-existing illnesses have been vaccinated so far, there is a risk, according to critics, that the vaccines could widely expire. Moderna’s preparation comes in individual doses.

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