Marian Kocner acquitted in Murder of Jan Kuciak

Marian Kočner and Alena Zsuzsová were acquitted of charges related to the murders of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová. The court said on September 3 that the deed happened, but it has not been proven that they committed the crime.

Tomáš Szabó and Kočner have been found guilty of the unauthorized carrying of weapons. Kočner was given a financial sanction of €5,000 and an alternative punishment of five months in prison if he fails to pay the fine.

Tomáš Szabó has been found guilty of murdering Kolárovo entrepreneur Peter Molnár, and of involvement in the murder of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová. He was sentenced to 25 years in a maximum-security prison.

The prosecutor appealed against the not-guilty ruling on the spot. Here is what that means for the case.

It is uncommon in Slovakia for a court president to comment on a senate’s work in public. The still-new president of the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok, Ján Hrubala, lived up to the pledges he made when he was appointed and held a press conference to offer some explanation of what Slovakia has witnessed in his court today.

The verdict drew reaction from the top state representatives as well as international journalistic and media freedom organizations.

President Zuzana Čaputová admitted she was shocked by the verdict and added she believes the murdered couple’s families deserve to see those who ordered the murder bear the consequences of their deeds.

PM Igor Matovič wrote he believed justice still awaits the people who are behind the murder.

Journalists and particularly the colleagues of Ján Kuciak from Aktuality.sk did not hide their disappointment, while international media freedom watchdogs called for an end to impunity.

Credit: Spectator