A citizen of Velenje was imposed a fine of 104,32 euros because of his writing on Facebook social network, in which he labelled the policemen as "clowns and buffoons", thus damaging the reputation of the Velenje police officers.

That's the opinion of the Police Administration Celje. The author of the writing was present at the pre-qualification handball match for the World Championship between Slovenia and Ukraine, which resulted in a general brawl. The person from Velenje was supposedly very upset by the faint response by the policemen, therefore he labelled them on Facebook as "clowns and buffoons".

That is, according to Velenje policemen, a misdemeanour. In the explanation of the misdemeanour published online by the person in question they claim that the offender behaved indecently in a public place, and was for that fined 104,32 euros.

The Police Administration Celje explained that that a concerned citizen warned the Velenje policemen of the offensive notice. As they wrote, the person from Velenje in his profile had written on the wall, which is accessible to all the users of the mentioned network, among other things also the sentence: "The Velenje policemen at the match had intervened only towards the end of the brawl ... classical move for those clowns."

The author of the notice, according to the quotation of the Police Administration Celje, committed a misdemeanour under the terms of Paragraph 1 of the Article 7 of the Protection of Public Order Act, as he "damaged the reputation of the Velenje policemen with offensive words, published on Facebook profile, which is accessible to all the users of the mentioned network".

The profile has more than 800 friends
As explained by Rosana Lemut Strle, deputy Commissioner for Information, in this particular case it should be taken into account that although the Facebook profile, onto which wall this disputable statement had been written, is closed, it does have more than 800 members or friends.

From the facts known so far, and from the answers given by the Police, the Police had not "invaded the profile", but the information on the statement was sent to them by the person who reported it. It means that the police obtained the disputable statement in a completely legal manner, Lemut Strle said. She emphasized that the statements addressed to more than 800 individuals can't be considered as "a private statement".

The answer whether in the described case a misdemeanour was committed for real, as the Police claim, can be given only by court, which will happen if the alleged offender decides to request legal remedies. That is also the recommendation by the deputy Commissioner for Information. At the same time she recommends to users of the social networks to respect legal and ethical rules online as well.