Monika Jankovská (source: TASR)
When Monika Jankovská left the post of the Justice Ministry’s state secretary one month ago, she repeatedly emphasised that she never had any communication with Marian Kočner. Denník N now published some of the thousands of messages that she exchanged with the man who stands accused of ordering the murder of Ján Kuciak.
“Tell her to do what she should or she will end 'à la Kuciak',” Kočner wrote to Jankovská on the day the media broke the story about the murder. “She” is judge Zuzana Maruniaková, who ruled on the civic lawsuit between Kočner and the private television network Markíza, concerning one of the promissory notes now subject to the criminal case against Kočner and Pavol Rusko.
Maruniaková ruled in Kočner’s favour. The Threema messages as reported by Denník N suggest Jankovská groomed the judge for Kočner, as well as other judges. At one point in the communication, Kočner refers to Jankovská as “the godmother” of Maruniaková.
Jankovská has since returned to her position as judge at the Bratislava Regional Court. The Sme daily found out that she returned on September 28, even though the law stipulates that a judge can return to court from an executive post after 60 days. Jankovská quit as deputy minister on September 3. Jankovská is currently on sick leave.
Jankovská insists the leaked Threema communication that contains thousands of messages between her and Kočner is “one big hoax and fraud,” as she told the TASR newswire.
