Italian anti-mafia and counter-terrorism public prosecutor Federico Cafiero de Raho praised the work of the investigation team handling the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, the TASR newswire reported.
Nevertheless, he questioned the decision to dissolve the team during the international “Slovakia Against All Mafias” conference, held on November 11 in Trnava.
Related articleThe team investigating Kuciak's murder dismissed Read more The Italian Embassy in Bratislava and the Trnava Self-Governing Region prepared the conference upon the initiative of the parents of the murdered couple.
How to destroy the Italian mafia
De Raho also talked about the mafia being rooted in Slovakia and Europe, and the need to root out organised crime organisations like 'Ndrangheta. European countries should create and adopt joint legislation for this purpose, he added.
“Mafias aim to establish themselves in countries where the fight against them is not too intense,” De Raho noted, as quoted by TASR. “At the same time, they operate in fields that are not extraordinary but easy to invest and 'hide' in.”
The Italian prosecutor added they want to fight mafias and terrorism with other countries.
The failure of state authorities
Related articleProsecutor brings charges against Kočner in the Kuciak murder case Read more Not only de Raho, but also the parents of the murdered couple disagree with the dissolution of the team. This step has shown disrespect towards Kuciak and his fiancée, they said during the conference.
The lawyers representing the families of the murdered couple, Roman Kvasnica and Daniel Lipšic, appreciated the international cooperation in the Kuciak case as well.
Given the findings of the investigation, the Slovak Information Service (SIS) intelligence agency and the police, in particular, had failed to uncover and stop the spreading of organised crime in Slovakia, Kvasnica said.
“If someone hoped journalists would get frightened and would stop writing about the links of criminals with the judiciary and politics after the murder, they were very wrong,” Lipšic said, as quoted TASR.
12. Nov 2019 at 21:45 | Compiled by Spectator staff
