Opposition Marks Eight Years Since Journalist Jan Kuciak's Murder

Bratislava, 21 February (TASR) – The opposition commemorated the eighth anniversary of the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova on Saturday. Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) recalled that Slovakia is still waiting for a final verdict in the case, while the extra-parliamentary Democrats said the trial is beginning to resemble a never-ending story. Marian Caucik of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) wrote on social media that truth, freedom, justice and the courage to stand up for what is right are a shared responsibility. 'For the People' chair Veronika Remisova expressed a similar view, declaring that protecting the legacy of Jan and Martina is the duty of all democratically-minded people. Progressive Slovakia (PS) noted that the bereaved families are still waiting for justice and that the powerful in this country act as if the matter does not concern them. "The tragic murder of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova shook the entire country. It was an attack on freedom of speech, on justice and on the very foundations of the rule of law. Eight years after this crime, however, we still do not have a final verdict. For the loved ones of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova, this wait for justice is devastating," said SaS chair Branislav Groehling. SaS also recalled that the murder was the result of an environment in which corruption had reached the highest levels of the state. Caucik declared that a decent and just society does not emerge on its own. "We have to create it," he added, saying in a video that the legacy of Jan and Martina remains highly relevant today. "It lives in the daily decisions of each of us – when we ask questions, when we are not indifferent, when we speak up," he said. Remisova stated that Kuciak and Kusnirova were deprived of their lives by a criminal system linked to top-level politics, whose members believed they would not be held accountable for its crimes. "Eight years have passed since the murder of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova. The families are still waiting for justice and the powerful in this country act as if it does not concern them. On the contrary, they are tightening their grip," PS posted on social media, adding that the powerful are attacking journalists and the Constitutional Court and dismantling institutions that protect society from the mafia and criminals. "This must end. Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova died because criminals felt they could do anything – even take a human life. Let us not forget them," the opposition party stressed. Journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova were murdered on 21 February 2018 in their family home in Velka Maca, Trnava region. Three final verdicts have been delivered in the case. The perpetrators, Miroslav Marcek and Tomas Szabo, were previously sentenced to 25 years in prison, while Zoltan Andrusko received a 15-year prison sentence. In the case concerning the alleged ordering of the murder, Marian K. and Alena Zs. [names abbreviated due to legal reasons] are facing trial. The previous two verdicts were overturned by the Supreme Court. The case has thus returned to the Specialised Criminal Court for the third time. mf