Alim Hasanagić, an Islamic theologian from Jesenice, talked to TV Slovenija on phone and confirmed his presence at the gathering in question, which aroused the attention of the Slovenian public.

"It was a normal get-together; we played basketball, football and ate something. There was no terrorist training, there were no weapons and no road blocks as some of the media report," he explained. Answering to whether there were people with extremist convictions at the gathering, Hasanagić replied that although it later turned out that certain people did have such convictions, they did not have them at that time. "I think the police knows better than me who among those extremists was at that event," Hasanagić said.

Unofficially, the ones with extremist views belong to the group of the notorious Mirsad Omerović, who faces a long-term prison sentence in Austria. Omerović is suspected of recruiting young Muslims from a mosque in Vienna to fight in Syria. According to Austrian officials he has managed to successfully recruit at least 14 young Muslims.

Creating panic
And what about the location in Dol pri Ljubljani? It is a pleasant area for picnics which also has many sports facilities, a children’s playground, an area of barbeques and lots of shade from the surrounding forest. In short, an ideal location for different kinds of celebrations. Jurij Kuhar, who rents the area, said the group in question was in no way different from other groups renting the place, except maybe by appearance.