The trial for the killers of Slovak investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kusnirova, started in the Slovak city of Pezinok, just northeast of the capital of Bratislava, on Monday and will be broadcast on national television
PRAGUE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th January, 2020) The trial for the killers of Slovak investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kusnirova, started in the Slovak city of Pezinok, just northeast of the capital of Bratislava, on Monday and will be broadcast on national television.
Kuciak, who was known for investigating the cooperation of senior politicians and shadow businessmen, and his fiancee were shot on February 21, 2018, in their house in Velka Maca in the country's west. The killing triggered mass demonstrations against corruption and forced the resignation of then-Prime Minister Robert Fico, who had been in office for 10 years, and other officials.
Police have since arrested five people believed to have been involved in or have ordered the killing. Among them are Marian Kocner, a high-profile Slovak businessman, and his three alleged accomplices.
In late December, Zoltan Andrusko, the fifth person in the case, admitted to acting as an intermediary between those who ordered the killing and those who executed it. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in a separate proceeding, based on his plea bargain deal with prosecutors. The four other suspects had a preliminary hearing at the Specialized Criminal Court in Pezinok on December 19. They are likely to face life sentences.
The assassination of the Slovak journalist and his fiancee was considered to be an unprecedented event for Slovakia and a test of the country's police and judicial independence given that the probe revealed business and personal links between Kocner and some security officials.
