A Slovenian Facebook user has been fined €104 for calling police officers "clowns" after a handball match.
The man commented on the Slovenian police's reaction last January to a handball match between the Slovenian and Ukrainian teams, in which incidents broke out, calling the police officers "clowns.".
The police department of the city of Celje interpreted the comments as defamation and explained that the Facebook user was fined for indecent behavior in a public place.
The police were informed about the Facebook post by a citizen!
According to the police, the comment posted on the user's wall read: "Well, the Velenje police only intervened when the clashes ended... Usual for those clowns there.".
Deputy Information Commissioner Rosana Lemut Strle told Slovenian news agency STA that it had to be taken into account that the user's Facebook profile is private, but also that he has more than 800 friends. Given that the comments were reported to the police by a citizen, the police did not violate the user's profile, Ms Lemut Strle said. However, she added that a statement read by around 800 people can hardly be considered personal.
Information Commissioner Natasa Pirz Musar advised users to follow the same rules online as in real life.
On the other hand, "the police, with their policy of prosecution, are setting standards. Punishing someone for making some people angry is not right," she said, among other things, in a statement.
Source: newsit.gr
