LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — A court in Slovenia has slapped a three-month suspended jail sentence on the country's main right-wing politician for insulting two female journalists.

The court in the central town of Celje said Friday that the leader of the Slovenian Democratic Party, Janez Jansa, also must pay the costs of the proceedings stemming from the 2016 incident.

Jansa's lawyer has said he will appeal the ruling over Jansa's tweet referring to the journalists as "prostitutes," according to the state STA news agency.

Jansa has maintained that he was using the term to describe their work and that they published lies about his party.

Jansa is an ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Jansa's party has won most votes at Slovenia's general election in June but failed to garner a parliamentary majority.