International team to investigate Kuciak’s double murder

International team to investigate Kuciak’s double murder

A joint investigation team will investigate the double murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová. This stems from an agreement signed by General Prosecutor Jaromír Čižnár and his partners in The Hague on Wednesday. Čižnár stated:"I consider the signing of the agreement extremely important because it will serve as a base for exchanging and gathering information leading to clarifying the case and revealing the perpetrator or perpetrators."

Eurojust, that is the European Union's hub for judicial cooperation and coordination between Member States, was actively participating in forming the team, according to President of Eurojust and its National Member for Slovakia, Ladislav Hamran. He said that the EU body is ready to intensively help the prosecutors of both countries when investigating this serious and condemnable crime. Further, he underlined how serious the case is: "The murder of a journalist is unique in Slovakia's history and has rightly drawn attention far beyond our national borders."

The support of Italian authorities will enable Slovak authorities to further assess all the investigative scenarios linked to cross-border organised crime and accelerate their investigative work. Eurojust and Europol will provide financial and logistical support to these activities.

Further, this afternoon, the European Parliament will vote for a resolution on the protection of investigative journalists in Europe, after the visit of MPs in Slovakia mid-March. The European Parliament asks General Prosecutor Jaromír Čižnár to examine again in detail the complaint of the Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak, which he lodged after he had faced threats against his person.

The resolution asks the European Commission to set a stabile system of the financial support for independent investigative journalism. Finally, the document calls for an immediate reopening of regular monitoring concerning fight against corruption in all member states of the European Union.


Elena Seeber, Foto: TASR

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