Slovenian ex-PM Jailed on Corruption Charges

Slovenian Prime Minister, Janez Jansa, arrives at a European Council meeting at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 15 March 2013. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The former Slovenian Prime Minister and current leader of the main opposition party, Janez Jansa, was convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to two years of imprisonment on Wednesday.

Janez Jansa was convicted of taking bribes in connection to a deal in 2006 for supplying the army with armored vehicles. The Finish Company "Patria" also played a part in the deal.

The scandal was one of the corruption cases that outraged Slovenians amidst the financial crisis, which has gripped the country.

Jansa denied taking any money and was expected to be acquitted to the last moment.

The court, however, ruled that he and two other defendants are guilty of corruption in the delivery of 135 BTRs.  The other two defendants received 22-month jail terms.

Finland launched a lawsuit into the case against six defendants, while an Austrian court has already convicted an Austrian citizen of corruption.

The deal worth EUR 278 M was cancelled in 2012 after claims that senior officials have taken bribes occurred in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana.

Finland controls 73 % of "Patria" and the European Defence and Space Company, EADS, owns the remaining 27 %.

Jansa was PM twice- in 2004-2008 and again until 2013, but his center-right government fell from power, after the anti-corruption commission declared that he has failed to logically explain the origin of a considerable part of his incomes for the last several years.

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