VIENNA, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - The International Press Institute Wednesday condemned Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa's decision to press charges against a Finnish journalist who alleged he took bribes in an arms deal.

'We call on Mr. Jansa to drop the threat of criminal proceedings and to pursue his claim in a manner that supports freedom of the press and editorial independence,' the media watchdog's director David Dadge said in a statement.

'This latest development represents yet another unnecessarily aggressive attempt to redress the Finnish media's handling of the Patria Affair,' he added.

The journalist, Magnus Berglund, alleged in a report broadcast on September 1 on Finnish television YLE that Jansa and others had taken bribes from Finland's defence firm Patria for a 278-million-euro (395-million-dollar) contract.

Jansa has denied the allegations and his lawyers announced Tuesday that he had decided to press charges against Berglund.

The bribery scandal came shortly before Slovenian general elections, which the opposition eventually won ahead of Jansa's Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS).

IPI had already slammed Slovenia in mid-September for exerting diplomatic pressure on YLE, following Berglund's report.

Jansa had complained to Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and the foreign ministry warned that the issue could impact bilateral relations.