PEZINOK, Slovakia — A panel of judges in Slovakia on Thursday acquitted a businessman accused of masterminding the 2018 slayings of an investigative journalist who had written about him and the journalist's fiancee. The judges cleared the businessman, Marian Kocner, and one co-defendant of murder in the killings of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kusnirova, both 27. Judge Ruzena Sabova at the Specialized Criminal Court in Pezinok said there was not enough evidence for the convictions. Within hours, prosecutors appealed the verdicts in the country's Supreme Court. The International Press Institute, an international media freedom group based in Vienna, called the acquittals “a major setback for justice and the fight against impunity."

Source: International New York Times September 03, 2020 09:28 UTC