RSF - Reporters sans frontières
RSF - Reporters sans frontières
01/23/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/23/2026 06:28
Slovakia: as retrial of alleged mastermind behind journalist Jan Kuciak’s assassination approaches, RSF urges court not to repeat mistakes
On 26 January, Slovakia's Special Criminal Court will begin deliberations for the third time on the role of businessman Marian Kocner and his associate Alena Zsuzsova in the 2018 double murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the court to learn from the errors of the previous trials and thoroughly examine all evidence in the case file, in line with the appeals court's decision.
A reporter for Aktuality.sk, Jan Kuciak had published investigative articles on the criminal activities of Marian Kocner, who is charged as the mastermind behind the murder. According to the prosecution, Alena Zsuzsova passed his order through an intermediary to a killing squad, who assassinatedthe journalist and his fiancée on 21 February 2018 in their home in Velka Maca, a village near the capital, Bratislava.
This will be the third time Marian Kocner will be tried in this case. The businessman - who was sentenced to 19 years in prison for a different crime in 2021 - was acquitted by the Special Criminal Court, the first instance court in the Kuciak case, in 2020and then again in 2023; the Supreme Court overturned both acquittals on appeal. In the 2023 verdict, the Special Criminal Court convicted Alena Zsuzsova of commissioning the journalist's murder, maintaining that she sought to please Marian Kocner, her long-time associate.
However, in the appeal ruling issued two years later, the Supreme Court faulted the trial's judges for errors in their assessment of the evidence and for failing to comply with the first appeal decision made in 2021. As a result, the Supreme Court overturned the verdict and reassigned the case to a different panel of judges at the Special Criminal Court.
"RSF expresses its deep solidarity with the families of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova, who have been waiting for nearly eight years for justice to be served for the assassination of the journalist and his fiancée. I will be present alongside them at the opening of the trial, which represents a new opportunity to resolve a crime that undermined press freedom in Slovakia and in Europe. We call on the court to duly examine all the evidence in the case file, in accordance with the appeals court's decision, and to rule independently and in accordance with the law. Europe's eyes are on Slovakia.
Pavol Szalai
Director of RSF's Prague Bureau
Three other men involved in the murder of the young couple have already been convicted. The intermediary who cooperated with the justice system was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while the two hitmen are serving 25-year prison terms.
When the Special Criminal Court stated three years ago that it had "not been proven" beyond a reasonable doubt that Marian Kocner masterminded Jan Kuciak's murder, RSF condemnedthe "debacle of the judicial procedure against Marian Kocner."
Jan Kuciak may not be the first reporter killed for their work in Slovakia's recent history. In August 2025, police openedcriminal proceedings for "premeditated murder" into the case of freelance investigative journalist Pavol Rypal, who disappeared in 2008.
Slovakia ranks 38th out of 180 countries in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index.
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Published on23.01.2026
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