Last Christmas, Ján Kuciak received a text message. It was from Marian Kočner, a businessman who appeared on the so-called mafia lists, and a man that Kuciak used to write about a lot in his stories.
“He sent him the link to the business register and three kisses,” Kuciak’s brother, Jozef, said. “That was when I started worrying about my brother. Just the mere thing that Kočner reacted to Jano in this way was horrible. We are a small village and when such a person writes a text message to my brother on Christmas, it scares you.”
Investigative journalists awarded for their brave deeds Read more The story is described in the recently published book about the lives of Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová. They were both murdered a few weeks later, on February 21.
Even though Ján Kuciak almost failed to be admitted to the eight-year grammar school, because the admission exams also contained a computer skills test and the Kuciak family did not own a computer, he grew up to be one of the best investigative journalists.
