Human Rights Ombudsman Matjaž Hanžek met the special investigator of the International Federation of Journalists Alexander Sami who has been authorised to prepare a special report on the attack on Miro Petek, a reporter for Slovene newspaper Večer, which took place in February 2001.

 The two parties agreed that the attack on the reporter constitutes a violation of the right to information and a restriction of freedom of expression. The Ombudsman acquainted the special investigator with the activities which the Ombudsman's office has carried out in order to shed more light on the case, and with the results of investigations.

After several international journalists’ groups protested at the snail’s pace of the police investigation into the Petek affair, and the allegations that the investigation was being hampered by dealings between local businessmen and the police, the IFJ announced late last December that it would launch its own investigation. Sami met with the various parties involved in the case, including representatives of the government, the police and the media. The report was presented in Brussels on Friday 14 June.

The IFJ (International Federation of Journalists) sent a letter to the President of Slovenia Milan Kučan, the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi, the EU Enlargement Commissioner GĂĽnter Verheugen and the current European Council President Jose MarĂ­a Aznar informing them of the report and calling on them to do everything in their power to ensure the conclusion of the Petek case.