On Tuesday, journalists from the Aktuality.sk website were scheduled to testify at the murder trial of journalist Ján Kuciak. Peter Bárdy, Marek Vagovič, Ján Petrovič, Annamária Škarbová Dömeová and Dag Daniš were all colleagues of Ján Kuciak.
On Monday, Norbert Bödör and Jaroslav Haščák, often called oligarchs in the Slovak media, faced hearings. Ján Kuciak wrote about Bödör, whose companies earned large sums of money from Euro funds and by providing services to the state. In his hearing, Bödör admitted knowing Kočner, who is accused of ordering Kuciak's murder. Bödör also admitted knowing several people working in the police, of whom some stepped down after Kuciak had died. Nevertheless, Bödör denied taking part in the tailing of journalists - conducting it, co-financing it or collecting data from his acquaintances at the police. Bödör denied the authenticity of the alleged leaked text message exchanges between him and Kočner - exchanges which indicate that he did take part in tailing journalists.
According to lawyer Daniel Lipšic, representing the Kuciak family, Bödör must be criminally prosecuted for perjury over his testimony on the witness stand.
On the other hand, Haščák also confirmed that Kočner was a client of one his banks, but denied having cooperated in the murder.
Ján Kuciak and his fianceé Martina Kušnírova were shot dead at their home in February 2018. According to the indictment, crooked businessman Marian Kočner ordered the murder, being annoyed with the journalist's reporting on his shady business deals. The crew of Tomáš Szabó and Miroslav Marček - a former policeman and soldier respectively - executed the murder. Kočner's friend Alena Zsuzsová commissioned the crew via Zoltán Andruskó, who has already been sentenced to 15 years in prison after entering a plea bargain. Both Zsuzsová and Kočner pleaded not guilty. Marček has admitted he shot the two victims. Tomáš Szabó, suspected of driving Marček to the spot and also planning the murder, pleaded not guilty. The four accused face between 25 years and life imprisonment if found guilty. Moreover, Marián Sehnal was sentenced to three years conditionally after he confessed to having adjusted a gun for the shooter Miroslav Marček and Tomáš Szabó.
