Journalist murder retrial to start on February 28

The retrial in the case of the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova is set to start on February 28, with further sessions slated for late March. The Specialised Criminal Court is expected to decide on the guilt or innocence of Marian Kocner and Alena Zsuzsova. Previously, the court acquitted them of the charges in the case, but, after appeals were filed, the Supreme Court sent the case back for a retrial. So far, a total of three individuals have been convicted in the case, namely Miroslav Marcek and Tomas Szabo, who have both been sentenced to 25 years, and Zoltan Andrusko, who was handed a 15-year sentence. The Supreme Court at the same time ruled that the Kuciak and Kusnirova murder trial should be merged together with the trial for the planned murders of prosecutors Zilinka, Lipsic and Sufliarsky.