Slovakian journalist ‘shot dead to stop his investigations’

A SLOVAKIAN investigative journalist has been shot dead along with his partner in an incident police say was linked to his work.

Tibor Gaspar, the head of Slovakia’s police, said officers had found the bodies of Jan Kuciak and his partner on Sunday night in the 27-year-old journalist’s house in Velka Maca, a small town about 30 miles east of Bratislava. Both had died from single gunshot wounds in an attack carried out sometime between Thursday and Sunday.

“The most likely motive for the killing is that it is related to his activities as an investigative journalist,” Mr Gaspar told reporters.

Mr Kuciak, who worked for Aktuality, a Slovakian news website, had been working on tax evasion stories, and had last year filed a complaint against the police accusing them of failing to respond to threats made against him by a businessman.

Slovakia’s economy has boomed since it joined the EU in 2004, but many Slovaks say their country still fails to punish corruption.

Robert Fico, Slovakia’s prime minister, said if the murders were related to Mr Kuciak’s work, it would be an “unprecedented attack on the freedom of the press and democracy in Slovakia”.

An open letter signed by the editors of 20 publications and radio stations called on the authorities to ensure the safety of journalists in Slovakia

“The murder of a journalist is a grave sign that crime is turning against one of the most important pillars of freedom; against freedom of speech, and the right of citizens to control the powerful and those who break the law,” they wrote.

The Slovak government has promised a €1 million (£880,000) reward for information.