Trial in Kuciak murder case continues with witness testimony reading; court changes conditions for Dušan K.
The main trial in the case of the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak continues at the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok. Witness testimony is being read, including from the mother of one of the defendants.
Pezinok court reads witness statements in Kuciak case
The main trial in the case of the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and the planned murders of prosecutors continued on Wednesday at the Specialised Criminal Court (ŠTS) in Pezinok with the reading of earlier witness statements, according to Aktuality. Of the defendants, only Dušan K. was present in the courtroom.
The head of the panel, Miroslav Mazúch, announced that the court had partially granted Dušan K.'s motion and had revoked his obligation to report regularly to the probation and mediation officer. However, the replacement of pre-trial detention with a written undertaking and probation officer supervision remain in effect, as do the ban on visiting gaming establishments and participating in gambling.
"There is a concern that the defendant could continue to commit similar criminal offences," Mazúch stated, emphasising that this was not a decision on guilt. Dušan K. waived his right to lodge an appeal.
The court read the testimony of the mother of defendant Zoltán A., who stated that she was unaware of any potential criminal activity by her son. She pointed out that her son spent most of his time at the pizzeria he operated, and that he had several debts. Testimony was also read from former barmen from a golf facility in Báč in Dunajská Streda district.
A doctor who conducted an examination of the murdered journalist and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová testified that in his opinion it was not possible for Kušnírová to have been shot from behind, as the police officers present at the crime scene had told him — she had fallen on her back and a cabinet was standing behind her. The brother of the deceased woman described the circumstances of handing over a mobile phone that his sister had previously used.
Kuciak and Kušnírová were murdered in February 2018 in Veľká Mača in Galanta district. Marian K. and Alena Zs. are charged with ordering the murder. The Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic annulled two previous verdicts, meaning the case has now come before the ŠTS for the third time. The perpetrators of the murder Miroslav Marček and Tomáš Szabó received 25-year custodial sentences, and the intermediary Zoltán Andruskó 15 years.
In the part concerning the preparation of murders of prosecutors Maroš Žilinka, Daniel Lipšic and Peter Šufliarsky, in addition to Marian K. and Alena Zs., Dušan K. and Darko D. are also charged. According to the prosecution, the order for the murders of Žilinka and Lipšic was to have come in autumn 2017, and in the case of Šufliarsky in 2018. Their implementation did not occur. Szabó, who admitted to involvement in the preparation of the murders, has been a final convicted offender since 2022.
Source: Aktuality