Paying tribute to Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová. (source: Jozef Jakubčo, Sme)
February 21, 2018 – Investigative reporter of Aktuality.sk,Ján Kuciak, and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, were murdered in the evening hours in their house in Veľká Mača, a village about 50 kilometres away from Bratislava.
Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová were murdered on February 21, 2018. (source: Gabriel Kuchta, Sme)
February 26, 2018 – The police discovers the dead bodies of the murdered couple and the first media reports about the murder appear in the morning. Police admit the murder is likely connected with Kuciak’s work.
February 27, 2018 – Slovak dailies run black front pages in memory of Ján and Martina. PM Robert Fico organises a press conference, standing in the government’s office room next to a table with €1 million in cash on it, a reward for information about the murderers.
PM Robert Fico organises a press conference, standing in the government’s office room next to a table with €1 million in cash on it. (source: Jozef Jakubčo, Sme)
February 28, 2018 – Slovak media publish the last, unfinished story of Ján Kuciak about links between the Italian mafia ‘Ndrangheta operating in eastern Slovakia and Fico’s close collaborators at the Government’s Office.
Marek Maďarič resigns from the post of culture minister.
March 2, 2018 – Memorial gatherings are held around Slovakia, the biggest march takes place in Bratislava. Journalists address the crowd. Martina Kušnírová’s funeral, with hundreds of people in attendance, takes place in her native village of Gregorovce.
March 3, 2018 – Ján Kuciak is buried in his native village of Štiavnik.
Ján Kuciak 1990-2018 (source: Gabriel Kuchta, Sme)
March 9, 2018 – Biggest protests since the 1989 Velvet Revolution take place. In the capital alone, more than 60,000 people take to the streets. Slovaks living abroad organise gatherings to support their country. Protesters demand a fair investigation of the murder, the resignation of Police Corps President Tibor Gašpar, Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák and PM Robert Fico. In the next few weeks, protests would repeat every Friday evening.
March 14, 2018 – PM Robert Fico tells President Andrej Kiska he would step down given three conditions. Kiska accepts them.
Robert Fico and Andrej Kiska (source: Jozef Jakubčo, Sme)
March 22, 2018 – The president appoints Peter Pellegrini as the new prime minister. Several ministers change: Slovakia also gained a new Interior Minister Tomáš Drucker (previously Robert Kaliňák), Justice Minister Gábor Gál (previously Lucia Žitňanská), Culture Minister Ľubica Laššáková (previously Marek Maďarič) and Health Minister Andrea Kalavská (previously Tomáš Drucker).
April 16, 2018 – Tomáš Drucker resigns, Denisa Saková later replaces him as the new Interior Minister.
April 17, 2018 – PM Pellegrini announces the resignation of Police Corps President Tibor Gašpar, as of May 1. Milan Lučanský then takes over as acting police corps president.
May 5, 2018 – The day of the planned wedding of the murdered couple, a memorial service and a concert takes place in Gregorovce.
May 9, 2018 – General Prosecutor’s Office finds errors in nine cases linked to group of Italians in eastern Slovakia from Kuciak’s last story.
May 21, 2018 – Special Prosecutor’s Office announces they found shortcomings in the first operations at the scene of the crime, especially during the inspection.
May 29, 2018 – Police conducts reconstruction of the murder in Veľká Mača.
"Love is stronger than evil." (source: Jozef Jakubčo, Sme)
May 30, 2018 – Kuciak becomes one of the first awarded by Prize for journalists, informers and advocate of the law and information by the European Parliament.
September 27, 2018 - SWAT team raids family houses in Kolárovo and detains eight people suspected of participating in the double murder.
October 1, 2018 - Four people charged with the murder are taken in pre-trial custody. The public also learns that a sum of €70,000 was paid for the murder and the perpetrators received the money in €500 banknotes packed in napkins.
During her first meeting with Zoltán A., the go-between, the woman who ordered the killing, Alena Zs., had a video documenting Kuciak’s whereabouts, his photos and address. Zoltán A., a businessman from Komárno, gave the information to the hitman and his driver, Miroslav M., through the mobile phone where everything was saved. Second hitman Tomáš Sz. had two individually customized submachine guns of 7.65 mms, as well as a silencer for firearms.
Tomáš Sz. and Miroslav M. allegedly asked for more money after the case was highly publicised, and ultimately, they received it. However, the precise amount is not known.
October 4, 2018 – The four accused in the Kuciak case, Alena Zs., Zoltán A., Tomáš Sz. And Miroslav M. allegedly planned to kill Deputy General Prosecutor, Peter Šufliarsky, prosecutor Maroš Žilinka and lawyer Daniel Lipšic. Zoltán A. has testified that the murder was ordered by businessman Marián Kočner. Businessman Marian Kočner threatened murdered journalist Ján Kuciak.
October 22, 2018 - One year and a half prior to the murder, controversial businessman Marian Kočner had five journalists followed. Denník N cites sources from the criminal prosecution, who leaked information to the daily about the police interrogation of former journalist-turned-spy Peter Tóth. Tóth turned to the police of his own initiative days after four people were arrested and charged with the murder, admitting that he worked for Kočner.
Tóth denied that the police have a testimony with his name and signature on it in the murder investigation file.
January 24, 2019 - Alena Zs. is accused in another murder case. She might have been involved in the murder of the ex-mayor of Hurbanovo.
January 25, 2019 - Chair of the Intelligence Unit of the Financial Police, Pavol Vorobjov, screened Ján Kuciak's police files in autumn 2017, a few months before the murder. Tibor Gašpar, who is also Vorobjov’s neighbour, allegedly issued the instruction to screen Kuciak. Gašpar denies this.
February 21, 2019 – A big gathering takes place to mark the first year since the murders of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová.
