Intelligence Service works with police in journalist’s murder case

The Slovak Intelligence Service is cooperating with police in the investigation of the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancé, said its head Anton Šafárik on Tuesday afternoon. Speaking after a meeting of the parliamentary committee which supervises his service, Šafárik confirmed that they have been monitoring the activities of Italian mafia in Eastern Slovakia. This was the topic that Kuciak was investigating in his last, unfinished article, which was published posthumously. Opposition MP Gábor Grendel, who leads the supervisory parliamentary committee, said he needs to respect secrecy but added that the intelligence service submitted an opinion on the security clearance for PM Fico's advisor Viliam Jasaň. They did not check the prime minister's assistant Mária Trošková as they were not asked to do so. Both were mentioned in Kuciak's article as having links to alleged Italian mafia members in Slovakia. Both stepped down last week until the investigation into the journalist's murder is finished.