Wealthy businessman Marian Koechner, who accused of ordering the 2018 murder of an investigative journalist and his fiancéewas acquitted today by a court in Pezinka in a new trial in a case that has shaken Slovakia.

Judge Ruzhena Sambova announced the verdict, explaining that “it has not been proven” that it was Kohner who ordered the murder of Jan Kuciak. His alleged accomplice Alena Susova was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Supreme Court Slovakia in 2021 overturned a previous lower court decision that had acquitted both defendants, paving the way for a new trial in the murders of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancé Martina Kusnirova.

Kohner and Susova remain in custody, both serving time for other crimes.

The two victims, aged 27, were killed in their home in what appeared to be a mafia-style settlement. Jan Kuciak published several reports on corruption and “suspicious” connections of Marian Koechner with high-ranking political figures.

“Susova was convicted, Kochner was acquitted… I don’t understand this. We will not stay here,” said the journalist’s father, Jozef Kuciak, addressing the press after the court’s decision was announced.

“A shame (…) for our justice system,” commented Zlatitsa Kusnirova, the mother of the second victim.

Two people have already pleaded guilty and have been convicted of murder. Former soldier and contract killer Miroslav Marchek was sentenced in April 2020 to 23 years in prison for this crime.

The double assassination sparked a crisis in Slovakia and then Prime Minister Robert Ficho was forced to resign after massive protests against his government.

Source: APE-MPE, AFP.