Only a few people remember where exactly they were months or years ago. Yet the 26th February of this year will be remembered by most Slovaks, especially journalists, for a very long time. If not for the rest of their lives. On this day, Slovakia and the whole world learned about the murder of the investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova in a small village near Galanta. People usually read these kinds of stories in detective novels, rather than experiencing them in a European Union member state. That morning, I was attending, together with my colleagues, a press conference of the Minister of Defence for the SNS (Slovak National Party) Peter Gajdos. His words about how he planned to file a criminal complaint against people he alleged were spreading false information about the possible failure of Slovakia to fulfil its obligations to NATO, did not, however, get the attention of the journalists present. Instead, horrified, they were looking at their cell phones and reading the breaking news about the death of their colleague.
In public, but especially in the journalists’ community, there was confusion. In addition to the understandable fear, sadness and compassion, there was also a strong sense of the need for justice – not just for the murdered couple, but also for their relatives and friends. In the hours and days that followed, a strong sense of solidarity emerged – one of the most powerful moments came with the memorial event in Bratislava. At the Slovak National Uprising square, where just 25 years ago Slovaks, citizens of the then Czechoslovakia, fought for their freedom and liberation from the communist regime peacefully by jingling of keys, hundreds of people stood again. This time with candles in their hands, putting them next to the picture of the murdered couple, crying and hugging in almost complete silence.
Already on 26th February the head of the Police Tibor Gaspar said that the Kuciak murder was apparently related to his work, the Attorney General promised to “unleash hell” if this motive were to be confirmed and the Prime Minister offered one million euros for any relevant information that would lead to the capture, criminal charges and conviction of the perpetrators of the murder. The public itself took the floor afterwards. Following the publication of the latest, unfinished text by Jan Kuciak, who revealed the connection of alleged members of the Italian mafia ‘Ndrangheta to the Slovak political elites, a civic initiative “For a Decent Slovakia” was set up and initiated mass protests in dozens of cities all over Slovakia and in the world calling for the resignation of the Minister of Interior Robert Kalinak and Prime Minister Robert Fico (both Smer-SD party). After some weeks, they did resign. The fall of the government, however, despite a coalition crisis lasting several weeks, has not happened. The status of journalists in the society or in the eyes of the law did not change either – the opposition proposals for legislative change and better protection of journalists did not find support in Parliament.
Another serious issue for journalists in Slovakia is the lack of a relevant organisation in which they would be organised, and which would be able to protect them. Although there has been a Syndicate of Slovak journalists for years, it is far from being a respected organisation or having a decisive say in the journalistic society or public.
Over 3 months have passed since the murders of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova. Tens of thousands of protesters in the streets are no longer seen, the government continues in its term of office and the police continue in their investigation with no publicly known result. The results, however, are gradually being brought by Kuciak’s colleagues – journalists from different, often competing media, who have now united under the #AllforJan symbol and are trying together to continue working on the cases, which the late journalist Jan Kuciak drew attention to.
Lucia Osvaldová, Charles University in Prague, journalist for RTVS (Radio and Television of Slovakia)
