Murdered Slovak journalist ‘probed Italian mafia links’
BRATISLAVA: Murdered Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak was probing alleged high-level political corruption linked to the Italian mafia, the news portal he worked for revealed yesterday, as the killing sparked calls for fresh anti-corruption protests in the small EU state. Opposition politicians have demanded the interior minister and police chief step down, accusing them of failing to protect Kuciak when he filed criminal complaints after receiving threats. Kuciak, 27, and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova were found shot dead on Sunday at his home in Velka Maca, a town to the east of Bratislava, raising concerns at home and abroad about media freedoms and the level of corruption in Slovakia.
He reported for aktuality.sk, a news portal owned by German-Swiss Axel Springer and Ringier group, focusing on fraud cases involving businessmen with links to Prime Minister Robert Fico’s governing SMER-SD party and other politicians. At the stroke of midnight, aktuality.sk published Kuciak’s last, unfinished investigative report on possible political links to Italian businessmen with alleged ties to Calabria’s notorious ‘Ndrangheta mafia supposedly operating in eastern Slovakia.
“Two people from the circles of a man who came to Slovakia as someone accused in a mafia case in Italy have daily access to the country’s prime minister,” Kuciak wrote in the article titled “Italian mafia in Slovakia. Its goblins extend into politics.” “Italians with ties to the mafia have found a second home in Slovakia. They started doing business, receiving subsidies, drawing EU funds, but especially building relationships with influential people in politics-even in the government office of the Slovak Republic.
“They owned or still own dozens of companies. Their property is worth tens of millions of euros.” Slovakia’s leading SME broadsheet had first revealed details of Kuciak’s investigation on Tuesday. The report triggered an angry rebuke from Fico, who showed reporters stacks of euro bills totaling the one million euro ($1.2 million) reward he has offered for information that could lead to the killers. “Do not link innocent people without any evidence to a double homicide. It’s crossing the line. It’s no longer funny,” he warned. The Kuciak shooting followed the October murder of campaigning Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia-who exposed crime and corruption on the Mediterranean island-in a car bombing. Police commander Tibor Gaspar, who has said the motive was “most likely” related to Kuciak’s investigative journalism, warned reporters that publishing details of the case could tip off suspects.