Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, were shot and killed on February 21, 2018. The journalist was shot in the chest, and his fiancée was shot in the head at their house in Velká Mača, a city 50 kilometers from the capital Bratislava. Their bodies were found on February 25.
As of November 2024, four hitmen and intermediaries have been convicted and sentenced to prison for the murders, one of whom, Alena Zsuzsová, has filed an appeal. The Supreme Court has yet to hear an appeal against the May 2023 acquittal of the suspected mastermind, businessman Marián Kočner.
Bratislava police quickly established the killings as murders, which the then-Chief of Police Tibor Gašpar said were "most likely" linked to the journalist’s work. Kuciak worked for the news website Aktuality, where he reported on government corruption and investigated tax fraud associated with individuals close to the ruling social democratic party Smer.
Before his death, Kuciak worked with the Sarajevo-based Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Aktuality on an investigation into an Italian mafia group, ‘Ndrangheta, and their incursions into Slovakia. At the time of his death, the journalist was collecting records on men considered by Italian police to be extremely dangerous, the OCCRP stated. The OCCRP has since published the incomplete version of Kuciak’s article, which alleged embezzlement of European Union funds.
The journalist’s last story for Aktuality, on February 9, looked at suspected tax fraud by firms linked to Kočner and connected to a luxury apartment complex in Bratislava.
Kuciak had reported to police that he had received threats in 2017 from Kočner. “It has been 44 days since I filed a criminal complaint … for the threats. And the case probably does not even have a particular cop,” the journalist wrote.
Kočner previously stated he would set up a website publishing information on the private lives of journalists reporting on the alleged tax fraud case against him.
After a series of protests in Bratislava and other Slovak cities, several high-level officials resigned, including Prime Minister Robert Fico in March, Interior Minister Tomáš Drucker in April, and police chief Tibor Gašpar in May 2018.
In June 2018, Slovakia’s National Criminal Agency detained Kočner on charges that included tax fraud in an incident unrelated to Kuciak’s murder. He denied any involvement in the murders.
In September 2018, authorities charged four people with the murder of Kuciak and Kušnírová. Among the detainees was a woman, identified by her initials, A.Z., who was allegedly connected to Kočner, ordered the murder, and paid 70,000 euros (US$80,000) for it.
In December 2018, CPJ met with Interior Ministry and police officials, who said they were pursuing all lines of inquiry to establish who ordered the murders. In February 2019, CPJ met with Special Prosecutor’s Office and Ministry of Interior officials and urged them to expedite charges.
In March 2019, special prosecutors charged Kočner over Kuciak’s murder. Kočner had been in detention on unrelated financial fraud charges since June 2018.
In October 2019, the Special Prosecutor’s Office indicted four people in the killing: Kočner, Zsuzsová (identified previously as A.Z.), Miroslav Marček, and Tomáš Szabó. Reports said that prosecutors believed Kočner was the mastermind, Zsuzsová ordered the murder, and Marček acted as a driver for the shooter — his cousin and former police officer Szabó.
Also in October, a fifth person, Zoltán Andruskó, reached a deal with the investigators to testify against Kočner. In December, a special court in the city of Pezinok sentenced Andruskó to 15 years in prison for the premeditated murder of Kuciak.
In April 2020, the same court sentenced the driver Marček, who pleaded guilty, to 23 years for murder. In December, the Supreme Court increased Marček’s sentence to 25 years after prosecutors challenged the lower court decision.
In September 2020, the special court in Pezinok found Kočner and Zsuzsová not guilty of involvement in the murders, citing a lack of evidence, and sentenced Szabó, the shooter, to 25 years.
In June 2021, the Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Kočner and Zsuzsová and confirmed Szabó’s conviction.
In May 2023, a retrial by the special court in Pezinok acquitted Kočner a second time but convicted Zsuzsová and sentenced her to 25 years in prison.
The state prosecutor’s appeal is now awaiting a decision at the Supreme Court. Kočner and Zsuzsová, who are serving sentences for unrelated crimes, have denied the murder charges.
In April 2024, OCCRP reported that the prosecutors in charge of Kuciak’s case had resigned after the government dissolved the Special Prosecutor’s Office, which handled politically sensitive cases, in March.
Kuciak was the first journalist killed in relation to his work in Slovakia that CPJ has documented.