Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR)
The police have charged controversial businessman Marian Kočner, whose name has appeared on the so-called mafia lists, with ordering the murder of investigative reporter Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová.
Kočner is currently in custody in Banská BystricaLeopoldov. He was detained in connection with suspicions of committing an economic crime.
The media already informed that he had threatened Kuciak in the past.
Kuciak and Kušnírová were murdered in the evening hours of February 21, 2018 in their house in Veľká Mača, a village about 50 kilometres away from Bratislava. The police discovered their dead bodies and the first media reports about the murder appeared on the morning of February 26. Police admitted the murder is likely connected with Kuciak’s work.
The murders were followed by the biggest protests since the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Following public pressure, several representatives of the then-government resigned from their posts, including then-interior minister Robert Kaliňák and then-PM Robert Fico. Then-police corps president Tibor Gašpar also left his post.
Prosecutors believed to have enough evidence against Kočner
The prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the murder was executed the way it was described at the time when the people who carried it out were arrested.
The police charged Kocner on March 8, 2019 for ordering the murder of Ján Kuciak, during which Martina Kušnírová was also murdered. The murder was connected with the journalists’ work as an investigative reporter.
