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In January 2020, ex-soldier Miroslav Marcek confessed to killing investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova in February 2018 with shots to the head and chest. The Supreme Court of Slovakia has sentenced Marcek to 25 years in prison. As confirmed by court spokeswoman Alexandra Vazanova, this appeal court ruling against Marcek is final and can no longer be appealed.
The court corrects lighter sentence
With its decision, the court corrected a lighter sentence from the special court responsible for organized crime in Pezinok, near Bratislava. Judges sentenced Marcek to 23 years in April. They had credited him as mitigating the sentence he confessed and had provided investigators with valuable information about the alleged clients. The Public Ministry, however, insisted on the maximum penalty due to the seriousness of the crime and now enforced it on appeal.
Investigative journalist Kuciak had reported on businessman Marián Kočner’s shady dealings, but also on other entanglements in politics and business. People are still arrested for the work of Kuciak, and more recently, one of the most powerful oligarchs in Slovakia.
A report published after his death on possible connections between Italian mafia clans and Slovak government employees sparked massive anti-corruption demonstrations and led to the resignation of the then government.
Kočner, accused of ordering the murder, had repeatedly denied commissioning and paying for the crime. He and the alleged accomplices were acquitted in the main trial in early September for lack of evidence. Against this, the prosecution appealed. The Supreme Court will hear it on December 15 and 16.
