Mesec denies drug use with Smodej at parties before trial
Luka Mesec denied in the Tarča programme that he had ever taken drugs together with Dušan Smodej. He attributes the accusations to his candidacy for mayor of Ljubljana.
Mesec rejects Smodej's claims about joint cocaine use on camera
RTV SLO reports that Levica co-ordinator Luka Mesec rejected Dušan Smodej's statements in the Tarča programme, who now claims he gave false testimony four years ago about the nature of their acquaintance.
In a 2021 interview for Tarča, Smodej claimed he barely knew Mesec and had never seen him using drugs. He now speaks differently to the portal Info360: he claimed he lied at the time because the then-minister Mesec had asked him to do so through an intermediary.
Smodej speaks out after four years
In a statement to Info360, Smodej described a specific instance: "Luka came several times to one of our parties, to dinner and so on. In this matter concerning drugs, it is the relevant case at a New Year's party at the end of 2021, where I saw Luka take cocaine. Otherwise, it was always clear to everyone that Luka takes cocaine. It was somehow or is still common knowledge."
Smodej did not substantiate his claims with direct evidence concerning the alleged drug use. However, in a written statement he added that he assessed the observed use of prohibited substances by Luka Mesec and Petra Aršič as very frequent: "In my assessment, they had or have problems with cocaine addiction."
Mesec: organised discreditation before elections
Mesec rejects Smodej's accusations. He published a drug urine test, which detects substance use in the past few days. In a public statement he said: "Fantasies and deliberate lies. Unfortunately, Slovenian politics is turning into a swamp of false accusations. In short, it is clear that this is an organised and deliberate disqualification and an attempt at discreditation."
Mesec describes Smodej's appearances as a coordinated action before local elections, in which he is running for mayor of Ljubljana. "Before I decided to run for mayor of Ljubljana, I was warned from several sides to be careful, that these would be dirty elections, that I would be subjected to all possible disqualifications and discreditations," he said.
Email revealed contacts
Among the evidence Smodej submitted to the portal Info360 was an email in which Mesec writes: "Dušan, hello! Thank you for the invitation, I have to apologise this time, I will be at my brother's wedding. Have fun, see you!" It was an invitation to a party at the beginning of summer 2022, which Mesec did not attend.
However, the message contradicts Mesec's public statement from late August 2022, when accusations against Smodej were already known: "I have never had anything to do with Smodej. I reject all insinuations about my connections with him most strongly, I have never attended parties at his place, nor did I know they existed."
Info360 also published Smodej's correspondence with Michaela Selmani, a member of Levica and the office of then-culture minister Asta Vrečko, now adviser to the Levica parliamentary group. Selmani asked Smodej to avoid a possible meeting with the minister during a visit to the Venice Biennale in May this year: "I am with the ministry in Venice today. I have a small request, if we were to meet, that we avoid each other, so I don't have some pointless scene." Levica did not comment on the published correspondence.
Smodej on trial for sexual violence
Smodej's statements come at a time when he is being tried in a criminal case at Ljubljana court. According to the reports of Tarča journalist Vanja Gligorović, he is accused of forcing a minor into sexual intercourse by threatening to deliberately hit her with a car. One victim is said to have had the drug GHB mixed into his drink. Another victim he forced into sexual activity and caused bodily injury, whilst he pressed a cigarette against her skin below her left breast and extinguished it on her right hand at least three times.
Home search at defence minister
Tarča also revealed developments in proceedings involving prominent members of New Slovenia. During a home search at current defence minister and former head of motorway operator Darsa Valentina Hajdinjaka, investigators found 60,000 euros in cash and a kilogram of gold. The seizure remains in force, although Hajdinjak denied during the search that gold bars had been found at his place.
Fotopub affair in the background
Tarča hosted Levica co-ordinator Luka Mesec, SDS MP Luka Simončič, journalist Uroš Esih (Delo) and Peter Meršet (Zanima.me), lawyer Gorazd Fišer and NSi MP Aleksander Reberšek in the studio. The programme was presented by Erika Žnidaršič.
The Fotopub affair remains in the background, a subject of political disputes for years. Levica denies connections with the events within the affair at all times, whilst the right has not missed the opportunity to mention it. Media headlines followed: "What do the sudden death of Roman Uranjek, alleged sexual violence at elite parties and the Levica party have in common?"; "Minister Asta Vrečko is deep in the Fotopub affair"; "Smodej-Fotopub affair: why are Mesec, Kordiš, Nika Kovač ... silent ..."
Source: RTV SLO