SARAJEVO, June 5 (RAPSI) - Former Slovenian prime minister Janez Jansa has been convicted of corruption and sentenced to two years in prison, local media reported on Wednesday.

The judges unanimously backed the prosecutors' request to sentence Jansa to two years in prison, the Delo newspaper reported on its website.

Two more officials, also convicted of corruption, were sentenced to one year and ten months in prison, respectively. They will also pay fines of EUR 37,000 each.

The convicts can appeal the verdict. Jansa initially denied the charges, describing them as politically motivated and absurd. The trial against the ousted prime minister and his accomplices opened in September 2011. They were accused of having received a kickback while signing a EUR 278 million contract with the Finnish company Patria for the supply of 135 armored vehicles for the army.

The contract was the largest in the Slovenian army's history. The law enforcement authorities started looking into the contract because they suspected Patria of giving a kickback to win the tender. In September 2012, the contract was terminated. By that stage, Slovenia had paid EUR 74.5 million and taken delivery of 30 eight-wheel armored vehicles, 25 of them without weapons. The investigators believe that Jansa and his accomplices expected to receive EUR 21 million.

Jansa served as the prime minister in 2004-2008 and in 2012-2013. He is also the chairman of the Slovenian Democratic Party.