Accused pair used codeword for killings in encrypted chat, Kuciak trial hears

The retrial of the Ján Kuciak murder case resumed at the Specialised Criminal Court this week.

The court heard testimony from cooperating defendant and former top police official Bernard Slobodník on July 12, 2022. The retrial resumed this week after a break of several weeks.The court heard testimony from cooperating defendant and former top police official Bernard Slobodník on July 12, 2022. The retrial resumed this week after a break of several weeks. (Source: TASR)

In recent days, after a pause of several weeks, the Specialised Criminal Court has been hearing from more witnesses in the Ján Kuciak murder case and in a conjoined trial concerning an alleged plan to murder several prosecutors.

The retrial of the Kuciak case began in February after the Supreme Court annulled last year the Specialised Criminal Court’s original, September 2020 decision to acquit businessman Marian Kočner and his alleged accomplice Alena Zsuzsová of the murders of Kuciak, an investigative reporter, and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová. Both defendants are currently serving prison sentences following their convictions for other crimes. The case continued this week Monday through Wednesday.

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Prosecutors allege that Kočner and Zsuzsová were the masterminds behind the Kuciak murders, and a plan to murder state prosecutors.

Three men – Zoltán Andruskó (a go-between), Miroslav Marček (the gunman), and Tomáš Szabó (the driver) – were convicted in connection with the murders of Kuciak and Kušnírová in the initial trial and are now in prison.

The murder took place on February 21, 2018.

Here’s what happened in the past three days of court hearings:

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