Ján Kuciak

killed for doing his job

Ján Kuciak was a young Slovakian journalist who investigated tax evasion and corruption. He was ‘just doing his job’, but in Slovakia this was an act of rebellion, as journalists are frequently intimidated. His research focused on the involvement of an Italian mafia group in Slovakian politics. This group was allegedly in contact with the state advisor of prime minister Fico. Kuciak exposed the tax fraud of political parties and of a powerful businessman. On 21 February 2018, Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova were shot dead in their apartment in Bratislava. Hundreds of thousands of Slovaks took to the streets, demanding change.

“Those who steal and commit tax fraud are from the old school, they learned under communism. No private property, everything belongs to everyone. And whoever grabs more has more.”

Jozef Kuciak, Ján’s father

The death of Ján and his fiancée sent a shockwave through Slovakia. It caused mass protests in major Slovakian cities, the largest since the 1989 Velvet Revolution that helped bring down communism. People realised that the transition to democracy was not yet complete; they demanded a more democratic future. The public pressure forced premier Fico to resign.

The status quo in Ján Kuciak’s time:

In 2019, 72 percent of Slovak citizens said they do not trust the country’s legal system.

International observers have been warning for years about the declining freedom of the press in Central Europe.

The mainstream media’s editorial independence in Slovakia is undermined. A small group of oligarchs own several major outlets while the public broadcaster RTVS’s funding remains vulnerable to political influence.

“I understood that this person would be the architect of a new type of investigative journalism, one which did not yet have foundations in Slovakia.”

Peter Bardy, Ján Kuciak’s former boss

A number of ministers, members of parliament, police officers, and even Prime Minister Robert Fico resigned in the wake of Ján Kuciak’s death.

The path to full justice has been slow. Five years after the double murder, the hitman and an intermediary are behind bars serving hefty sentences. But the alleged mastermind, Marian Kocner, has been acquitted twice for his role in the murder. His associate did get a sentence of 25 years in jail.

THE PRESENT

WALDEMAR FYDRYCH

Waldemar Fydrych fought communism using imagination and absurdity. Poland, 1980s