At the Specialized Criminal Court (ŠTS) in Pezinok, the main hearing continues on Monday in the case of ordering the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak, as well as in the case of the preparation of the murders of prosecutors. The planned interrogation of the member of the criminal gang from Sered, Iľja Weiss, will begin a little later, the arrival of the defendant Darko D is awaited. For now, the earlier statements of the witness Miroslav Kriak, who participated in the surveillance of the journalist and other persons, are being read at the court.
- The hearing on the murder of Kuciak and the prosecutors continues at the Specialized Criminal Court.
- The interrogation of Iľja Weiss is delayed, the arrival of the defendant Darko D is awaited.
- In court, they read Miroslav Kriak’s earlier statements about the surveillance of the journalist and others.
- Marian Kočner and Alena Zsuzsová are facing indictment for ordering the murder of Ján Kuciak.
- The preparation of the murders of prosecutors Žilinka Lipšic and Šufliarske remained in the non-implementation phase.
The legal representative of the defendant Darko D. Júlia Vestenická informed the senate that her client is in a traffic jam and will be approximately 45 minutes late. Darko D. usually does not personally attend the main hearing, however, he wants to be present in the courtroom during the interrogation of Weiss. For this part of the evidence, he therefore did not consent to proceedings in his absence. Defendants Marian Kočner and Alena Zsuzsová did not appear at the main hearing.
At the hearing in June 2022, Weiss stated that he was supposed to secure a stolen car for the defendant Darko D., who, according to him, told him about “some kind of job” in Piešťany. According to the indictment, the target of the planned murder was the current Slovak Prosecutor General Maroš Žilinka.
In the case of the murder of Kuciak from February 2018, in which his fiancee Martina Kušnírová also died in Veľká Mača in Galanta district, the pair Marian Kočner and Alena Zsuzsová are facing indictment from 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.
