State Supervisor for Personal Data Protection Targets Independent Journalism
Oštro Editorial
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Domestic and international journalism organizations have responded to the proceedings against Oštro brought by the Information Commissioner’s Office and the District State Prosecutor’s Office in Murska Sobota, which they view as politically motivated pressure on journalistic work. Oštro will present the Asset Detector website where we collect data on the assets of politicians, today, December 18, at a public editorial meeting in Velenje.*
The Information Commissioner has initiated an inspection procedure against Oštro in relation to the processing of personal data in the Asset Detector project, which presents data on the assets of political officials and anonymized data on the assets of their immediate family members. In the request sent to us, the Information Commissioner demands, among other, the disclosure of journalistic methods, specifically in the cases of ministers Vinko Logaj and Borut Sajovic.
At the same time, the Murska Sobota Public Prosecutor’s Office is already conducting a pre-trial investigation based on an October report filed against Oštro with the state prosecution authorities by the Municipality of Ljutomer, led by Mayor Olga Karba.
Last week, the Mayor of Radenci, Roman Leljak, also announced that he would file a report against Oštro.
These proceedings and threats are interfering with our legitimate journalistic work, which aims to increase the transparency of Slovenian politicians’ activities – often in place of the state. We see these events as an attempt to silence Oštro’s journalists and burden the editorial office with bureaucratic pressures instead of journalism.
Our colleagues have already condemned the issue. The Slovenian Association of Journalists has published a statement in which it emphasises, among other, that the Information Commissioner’s proceedings demonstrate a lack of understanding of data and investigative journalism. “The essence of journalistic work is the collection, verification and analysis of data, based on which journalistic content is created,” they wrote. “The legal basis for the processing of personal data is the constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression.”
The International Press Institute (IPI) joined the Journalists’ Association in condemning the procedure. They sent a joint letter to the head of the Information Commissioner’s Office, Jelena Virant Burnik, calling on her to halt the proceedings against Oštro. “The media should be able to carry out investigative journalism, part of their supervisory function in society, without being subjected to unnecessary pressure,” the IPI said in a statement.
“The legal basis for the processing of personal data is the constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression.”
The criminal complaint against Oštro was also condemned by the European Federation of Journalists, which warned that “journalistic investigations into the assets of officials and associated persons contribute to transparency and prevent the risks of corruption.”
The EFJ sent an alert to the Council of Europe platform.
A warning about the attack on Oštro was also published on the Mapping Media Freedom platform, where the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) records attacks on journalists across Europe.
The international Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), of which Oštro is a member, published an article describing the pressure exerted on our journalists. Oštro founder and editor-in-chief Anuška Delić described the complaints as “bureaucratic terrorism” reminiscent of SLAPP lawsuits, strategic lawsuits to deter public participation. Notably, a bill on protective measures against such lawsuits is currently being debated in the National Assembly.
“We’ll be presenting the Asset Detector website at a public editorial meeting on Thursday, December 18, at 6 p.m. at the eMCe Plac Youth Cultural Club in Velenje.”
Political attacks on the media are becoming increasingly common in democratic societies. Recently, lawsuits filed by US President Donald Trump against media outlets have attracted major attention. According to the BBC, Trump has filed at least six major lawsuits to date, including against CNN, the New York Times, and, just a few days ago, the BBC. Some of the lawsuits are to the tune of $10 billion or $20 billion.
Oštro’s team will present the investigative work going into the Asset Detector at a public editorial meeting on Thursday, December 18, at 6 p.m. at the eMCe Plac Youth Cultural Club in Velenje, Šaleška cesta 3. Anyone interested in Oštro’s investigative journalism is invited to attend.
For transparency in political activity
The Asset Detector is the first example of systematic public disclosure of the wealth of political officials in Slovenia. We collect data exclusively through investigative and data journalism methods. The project was created in response to the lack of transparency and severely limited access to data on politicians’ assets, which is collected by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption and published in an extremely sparse form that does not satisfy the effective public oversight of the centres of power.
In recent years, we have published data on the assets of the prime minister, ministers, state secretaries, and members of parliament. In October this year, we published data on the assets of MEPs, new government officials and MPs, and the first six mayors. We have now added information about the assets of the mayors of Brda, Domžale, Dobrna, Grosuplje, Koper, Maribor, Radenci, Ribnica, Semič, and Velenje, as well as MP Janja Rednjak, who replaced her colleague Jani Prednik.
Next year we will continue to investigate the assets of mayors and other political officials in Slovenia. We will also update the data on existing officials. In this mission, the team will be assisted by tips from our readers, independently verified and published by Oštro if they can be confirmed by reliable sources.
You can send us information or tips by email at contact@ostro.si or by post to Oštro, Kotnikova ulica 28, 1000 Ljubljana.
*The article in Slovene was published on December 8, 2025.