Journalist Murder Put justice To Test In Slovakia

The trial of a business man and three other charged with the murder of an investigative journalist and his fiance in Slovakia begins on Thursday.

The murder of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnoirova resulted to mass demonstrations against high level of corruption  that forced the then prime minister of Slovakia to resign. The case has however dominated the Slovakia’s civic life since the unfortunate incident happened early last year.

The deceased and his fiance were gunned down in their house outside the capital of Bratislava. The tragic event, spurred out the murder of another journalist investigating corruption in an EU country. Daphe Caruana was killed four months earlier in the city of Malta before Kuciak’s incidence.

Prosecutors have accused a business Tycoon Marian Kocner has the bad-man that contracted the killing because he was the subject of one of Kuciak’s reports on corruption.

To many international crime analysts, the case is seen as a test of Slovak judicial independence after series of investigation shows business and personal links between Kocner and some security officials.

A correspondent said that “Kuciak’s reporting has led to the police launching several criminal probes into Kocner…it has cost Kocner not only business but also the air of impunity,”

Many have said that the outcome of the court ruling will be a yard-stick in measuring the level of independence of Slovakia judicial system.