Defendant Marian Kočner said at Monday’s main hearing of the Specialized Criminal Court (ŠTS) in Pezinok that he had never ordered a murder in his life. He faces indictment in the case of ordering the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak, as well as in the case of preparing the murders of prosecutors.
- Marian Kočner declared in court that he never ordered the murder.
- Kočner denied that he had given Alena Zsuzsová money for the murders.
- Kočner claims that Ján Kuciak’s articles did not interest him in any way.
- The perpetrators have already been legally convicted for the murder of Kuciak and Kušnírová.
- According to the indictment, the orders for the murders of three prosecutors were made in 2017 and 2018.
“I have never ordered any murder in my life. I have never commissioned anyone to do any such act. I have never used violence in my life.” said Marian Kočner. According to him, none of what the indictment accuses him of is true. “I never gave Alena Zs. or anyone else money to do these things. It’s not true,” he emphasized.
The defendant also testified that he first noticed Kuciak at a press conference when a journalist asked him a few questions. According to him, they were in contact once via email and the second time by phone. “I was in no way interested in his articles,” pointed out the defendant. He further noted that he has known co-defendant Alena Zsuzsová since about 2011. In the beginning, according to him, they were acquaintances, later friends, and currently they have no relationship. He does not know the other two defendants.
In the case of Kuciak’s murder from February 2018, in which his fiancee Martina Kušnírová also died in Veľká Mača in the Galanta district, Marian Kočner and Alena Zsuzsová are facing indictment on her order. The Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic annulled the previous two judgments. The case was brought to the ŠTS for the third time. The perpetrators of the murder, Miroslav Marček and Tomáš Szabó, were previously given 25-year non-parole sentences, Zoltán Andruskó 15 years non-parole.
In addition to Marian Kočner and Alena Zsuzsová, Dušan K. and Darko D. are facing indictment for preparing the murders of the prosecutors. According to the indictment, the order for the murders of Maroš Žilinka and Daniel Lipšic should have arrived in the fall of 2017. In the case of Petr Šufliarske, in 2018. However, they were not carried out.
