Hilda Tovšak is set to leave prison later this week after serving almost six years of her eight-year prison term. She had been convicted for her role in the Clean Shovel, Rimske Terme, and Betnava scandals.
Her attorney Dušan Tanko stated that he had not previously requested parole: “I don’t recall any prisoner convicted of this kind of crime serving such a long sentence in Ig.” Tanko added that Tovšak remains in Ig, but that she will leave prison this month. She has also paid back all financial penalties from the conviction.

Tanko also said that Tovšak has been a model prisoner throughout, that she enjoyed a more relaxed prison regime, and that spent her weekends at home. However, Hilda Tovšak still has several court appearances ahead of her, and according to Tanko, she will take part in the hearings. “She has been cooperative in the past and will remain so.”

In prison since 2013
Tovšak was accused of giving gifts to influence the construction of an air traffic control tower at Ljubljana Airport (in the Clean Shovel case), of fraud involving EU funds in the Rimske Terme and Betnava cases, of giving illegal gifts when searching for workers for the Šoštanj Coal Power Plant, and for defrauding Vegrad’s debtors. In early 2013, she was incarcerated in Ig.

Slovenian criminal law states that prisoners are eligible for parole after serving half of their prison terms on condition that they commit no further offenses until the end of their original terms. A committee, named by the Justice Minister and composed of high court judges, supreme court justices, senior prosecutors, and ministry employees determines whether parole is granted.