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Crime: Slovakia: Millionaire acquitted after murder of journalist

Crime: Slovakia: Millionaire acquitted after murder of journalist

The main defendant is acquitted, but the co-defendants are convicted: the court’s decision surprised observers. Five years ago, the act had caused an international sensation.

Millionaire Marian Kocner has been acquitted more than five years after the double murder of a Slovakian investigative journalist and his fiancé. A special court near Bratislava on Friday concluded that the businessman could not be proven to have ordered the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend. In contrast, the co-defendant Alena Z. was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The case made international headlines. Kocner’s conviction was generally expected. The millionaire is currently serving a multi-year prison sentence for other crimes. Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova (both 27) were shot dead in their home in the village of Velka Maca in February 2018. The journalist had reported on the criminal entanglements of politicians and entrepreneurs like Kocner.

The public prosecutor had accused Kocner as the actual mastermind and Z. only as an accomplice. However, the special court for organized crime in Pezinok, east of the capital Bratislava, found the evidence against Kocner to be insufficient. On the other hand, it was considered proven that Z. organized the double murder and also planned further murders.

Those convicted want to appeal

As the verdict was read out in the courtroom, the presiding judge said there were too many doubts and contradictions in the charges against Kocner. An impartial assessment of all available facts did not therefore convince all three judges of the accused’s guilt.

The verdict is not yet legally binding. Lawyers for the Kuciak and Kusnirova families announced an appeal. This is also expected from the public prosecutor’s office, since they had demanded life imprisonment for both of the accused. Then it’s the Supreme Court’s turn again.

The confessed gunman Miroslav Marcek and his accomplice Tomas Szabo had already been sentenced to 25 years in prison for carrying out the double murder. Kocner and Z., on the other hand, were initially acquitted by the special court in Pezinok in September 2020 due to a lack of evidence. However, the Supreme Court overturned this judgment in May 2021, meaning that the Special Court now had to decide again.

Source: Stern

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