In the ongoing Kuciak murder trial, the court has decided that the so-called "Threema communication" extracted from the mobile phones of Marian Kočner - accused of ordering the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak - was obtained legally and will be accepted as evidence. The judges on the case, however, have not yet decided if those messages will be read in court. If this happens, then the accused will be permitted to respond to them. The messages exchanged via the Threema application depict Kočner's reactions at the time of the journalist's murder, as well as his extensive contacts with judges, politicians and law enforcement officials whom he tried to influence.
Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová were shot dead at their home in February 2018. According to the indictment, crooked businessman Marian Kocner ordered the murder after being annoyed by the journalist's reporting on his shady business deals. The crew of Tomas Szabo and Miroslav Marček - a former policeman and soldier respectively - carried out the murder. Kočner's friend Alena Zsuzsova commissioned the crew via Zoltan Andruskó, who has already been sentenced to 15 years in prison after entering a plea bargain. Both Zsuzsova and Kočner have pleaded not guilty. Marček has admitted that he shot the two victims. The four accused face between 25 years and life in prison if found guilty.
