On Thursday morning, the senate of the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok, headed by judge Ružena Sabová, carried out preliminary proceedings concerning the charges in the case of the murders of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová. The charges concern six crimes in total: apart from the murders of Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová also the murder of entrepreneur Peter Molnár from Kolárovo. The senate has accepted all the charges and announced that the main trial in the murder case will take place in January and February.
Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová were murdered on February 21, 2018, in their house in the village of Veľká Mača. In September 2018, the National Criminal Agency detained suspects in the murder case - the hitmen Tomáš Szabó and Miroslav Marček as well as the intermediaries Zoltán Andruskó and Alena Zsuzsová. In March 2019, the police charged the controversial businessman Marián Kočner, whose name has also appeared on the so-called mafia lists, of ordering the journalist's murder. Kočner is currently also on trial for economic crime concerning falsified promissory notes. Zoltán Andruskó, who has cooperated with the police from early on, is in the position of a witness.
The media are closely following the proceedings taking place at the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok. Around 100 journalists from all over the world asked for press accreditation to cover the proceedings trial. Including our own colleague, Anca Dragu.
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Based on the latest flash news from the court, neither the Special Prosecutor's Office prosecutor, nor any of the accused are interested in making a plea bargain.
The murders of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová were followed by the biggest protests since the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Following public pressure, several representatives of the then-government resigned from their posts, including then-interior minister Robert Kaliňák and then-PM Robert Fico. Then-police corps president Tibor Gašpar also left his post. Numerous political commentators claim the trial in Pezinok is a "political test for modern Slovakia".
