Kuciak and Kušnírová murder retrial starts

The repeated trial in the case of the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová started at the Specialised Criminal Court on Monday. The Court is expected to decide on the guilt or innocence of Marian Kočner, charged of ordering the murder and of Alena Zsuzsová, charged of acting as go between. Previously, the court acquitted them of the charges in the case, but, after appeals were filed, the Supreme Court returned the case for a retrial. So far, a total of three individuals have been convicted in the case, namely shooter Miroslav Marček and assistant Tomáš Szabo, who have both been sentenced to 25 years, and go between Zoltán Andruskó, who was handed a 15-year sentence. The Supreme Court at the same time ruled that the Kuciak and Kušnírová murder case would be merged with the case of the planned murders of prosecutors Maroš Žilinka, Daniel Lipšic and Peter Šufliarsky. The defendants in this case also include Kočner, Zsuzsová and Szabo.