At the Specialized Criminal Court (ŠTS) in Pezinok, the third trial in a row in the case of the order for the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak begins on Monday. Marian Kočner and Alena Zsuzsová, who are present in the hearing room, face the indictment. At the same time, the court will for the second time deal with the case of the preparation of the murders of prosecutors Maroš Žilinka, Petr Šufliarske and Daniel Lipšic.
- At the ŠTS in Pezinok, the trial in the case of Kuciak’s murder is starting again.
- The defendants are Marian Kočner and Alena Zsuzsová, who are present in court.
- At the same time, the court is dealing with the preparation of the murders of three prosecutors.
- The Supreme Court annulled the previous judgments and returned the case to ŠTS.
- The senate includes the new chairman Mazúch, Marek Filo, Buval and a substitute judge.
In the case of the murder of Ján Kuciak, the Supreme Court annulled two previous verdicts of the ŠTS. Three decisions are valid in this case. The perpetrators of the murder, Miroslav Marček and Tomáš Szabó, were previously given 25-year non-parole sentences, Zoltán Andruskó 15 years non-parole. Ján Kuciak was murdered in February 2018 in Veľká Mača in Galanta district, his fiancee Martina Kušnírová also lost her life.
In the case of the preparation of the murders of the prosecutors, the couple Dušan K. and Darko D. are also facing indictment. Both are in the courtroom. Initially, the ŠTS recognized Dušan K. as guilty of participating in the preparation of the murder of Žilinka. Darko D. was acquitted. However, the Supreme Court annulled the first-instance judgment from May 2023 and returned the case back to ŠTS.
On the basis of last year’s decision of the Supreme Court, in addition to the annulment of the first-instance judgment, the senate was also replaced. The case was brought to the table by the chairman of the senate, Miroslav Mazúch, together with Marek Fil and Ján Buval. A substitute judge, Renáta Greif Radovčičová, was also appointed.
