The Committee to Protect Journalists joined seven partner organizations in a statement on Friday, October 4, 2024, condemning legal action taken by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico against Peter Bárdy, the editor-in-chief of the news website Aktuality and the outlet’s publisher, Ringier Slovak Media. The statement called on the court to dismiss the case.
The legal action followed the use of a photo of Fico on the cover of a book authored by Bárdy, entitled “Fico-Obsessed with Power.”
Bárdy was the editor at Aktuality when Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak was shot and killed on February 21, 2018. Kuciak is widely believed to have been targeted in retaliation for his corruption reporting. Despite the hitmen and intermediaries receiving lengthy prison sentences, the businessman accused of masterminding the crime, after threatening the journalist, was twice found not guilty.
Read the full letter.