Unveiling of Immortal Truth (source: SITA)
A memorial to honour murdered journalist Ján Kuciak, his fiancée Martina Kušnírová and Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was revealed in Brussels.
The creator of the memorial, named Immortal Truth, is Slovak architecture student Martin Mjartan. The sculpture will be situated on the main stage on the third storey of the European Parliament’s building for a week, before being transferred to premises used by journalists.
The families of the murdered Slovaks and Maltese also met with EP President David-Maria Sassoli, a former journalist himself.
European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová and EP Vice-President Mairead McGuinness promised in their speeches at the unveiling ceremony that both bodies will do their utmost to see those responsible for the murders brought to justice.
The ceremony was organised by Slovak MEP Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová and Maltese MEP David Casa.
Unveiling the memorial. (source: Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová via SITA)
Bullet-proof memorial
The memorial is made from anti-corrosive metal and black iron, with a bullet-proof inscription ‘Immortal’, bearing the marks of bullets, covering the inscription ‘Truth’. It was designed to state that truth is always somehow hidden and needs to be uncovered, Mjartan said.
Jozef Kuciak, father of the murdered Slovak journalist, expressed hope that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) will help bring to justice those responsible for his son’s murder after being put into operation later this year.
“After seeing the condition of our judiciary and prosecutors’ offices, we now at least know that the investigation won’t fail,” he said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. “The establishment of the EPPO also provides us with some hope.”
Journalists often risk their lives
As watchdogs of democracy journalists often risk their lives, but nobody protects them, said Zlatica Kušnírová, whose daughter Martina was gunned down along with her fiancé. She noted that Kuciak asked for protection, but the Slovak police remained inactive.
Jozef Kuciak and Zlatica Kušnírová pointed out that the trial of those indicted with involvement in the double murder could end up at the Supreme Court as an appellate court to the Specialised Criminal Court, while the barrister of the alleged chief plotter of the murder Marian Kočner has a good record with appeals at the Supreme Court.
