Status: 02/23/2022 3:38 p.m
Four years ago, investigative journalist Kuciak and his fiancée were shot dead in Slovakia. The new trial against the alleged client will begin in Bratislava next week.
Four years after the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova, the court case against the alleged client is being reopened in Slovakia. As court spokeswoman Katarina Kudjakova confirmed to the dpa news agency, the new trial against millionaire Marian Kocner and an alleged accomplice will begin on February 28 at the special court for organized crime in Pezinok, east of Bratislava.
The then 27-year-old investigative journalist and his fiancée were shot dead on February 21, 2018 in their house in the village of Velka Maca. The murder caused an international sensation. Kuciak was researching possible government corruption at the time of his assassination. His last report, published only after the double murder, triggered mass demonstrations that led to the resignation of the government.
Investigations revealed corruption network
The investigations into the businessman Kocner, accused of having commissioned the murder, revealed a corruption network that had existed for decades. Since then, scores of judges, prosecutors and senior police officials have been arrested. The fact that Kocner and his alleged accomplice were acquitted in September 2020 for lack of evidence caused international outrage. In June 2021, the Supreme Court of Slovakia upheld a prosecution appeal and overturned the acquittals.
Three suspects convicted
The confessed double murderer and two accomplices who are said to have acted on Kocner’s behalf have already been convicted. Kocner denies having ordered the murders.
Kocner and his alleged accomplice have since been convicted of other crimes. They must therefore remain in prison for years even if the court were to acquit them again of the Kuciak charge.
Were more murders planned?
According to court spokeswoman Kudjakova, the proceedings are not just about the murder of the journalist, but also about the allegation that several other murders were planned.
A memorial in her honor was unveiled on Monday to mark the fourth anniversary of the murder of the investigative journalist and his fiancé. Prime Minister Eduard Heger and the parents of the murder victims were present at the ceremony on a square in the capital Bratislava on Monday.