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This is surveillance video showing Jáno Kuciak,
the investigative reporter,
and next to him is his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová.
Someone was following their daily routines,
especially focused on Jáno.
And few months after this surveillance was done,
Jáno and Martina were murdered.
“An attack on a journalist is an attack on all of us.”
Demonstration banner. Slovakia 2018.
In my wildest dreams I didn't think something like this could happen.
I never thought it could happen in Central Europe.
Friday evening. Their cell phones did not have power anymore.
My son said, "Mom, do something. Call Ján's family."
And they were supposed to get married...
- In May. - May 5th, 2018 was the wedding date.
We had lots of things prepared already...
instead of a wedding we had a funeral.
The Killing of a Journalist.
We knew that the country is corrupted.
Everyone somehow understood the government.
Pavla Holcová, Investigative Journalist
and the judges and the police, there are corrupted people.
Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, courts in general,
Michal Vašečka, Sociologist.
Police, Prosecutor General Office, etc., etc.,
all these positions were completely in the hands
of this mafia type of system that these oligarchs created.
And the murder of Ján Kuciak
and Martina Kušnírová was the breaking point,
when we realized, "Okay, now they are ready even to kill."
I believe 100% Marián Kočner ordered the murder
of Jáno Kuciak.
But from what I've seen, how the system works,
I'm not convinced he will end up convicted.
From 1998 to 2006 Slovakia was very slowly becoming a kind
of a Central European economic tiger,
which led Slovakia into the European Union, into the NATO.
Basically Slovakia became one
of the most successful transition countries.
But the problem was
that behind the curtain very dirty things were happening.
Oligarchs basically started slowly but systematically
to kidnap the country.
And it somehow materialized itself in the government
of former Prime Minister Fico, which came to power in 2006.
We are talking about oligarchs
who created political parties, who were paying them,
and who created, basically, their puppets.
And oligarchs had such a power
that they even had the chance to create the illusion
of a well-functioning liberal democracy.
And in 2018, when Kuciak was murdered,
we discovered that there is no bottom.
There are different types of journalism. I thought since he played sports -
Jozef Kuciak and Jana Kuciaková, Ján's Parents
he would be interested in that. But he was captivated by investigations.
I kept warning them. Be careful. Stop... write about sports instead.
Zlata Kušnirová, Martina's Mother.
"You write about bad people and I'm worried about you," I told Ján.
We always make fun of the police question,
"Did he have any enemies?"
Because if you are an investigative journalist,
you know, the list of enemies is like excel sheet,
a couple of pages.
Ján was working on a lot of topics, including Kočner,
Mr. Bödör, Slovak oligarchs, Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Ján was dangerous to them... to those white-collar mobsters who -
operate in Slovakia from top to bottom.
His knowledge was kind of a special
and really in depth into the money flows,
so not many people could actually understand
what he's talking about.
VAT fraud, illegal money flows, tax evasion.
He never studied economy or accountancy,
but still he was very good at it.
He really could see the story in the numbers.
He was probably the first one
who really exposed the illegal financial flows
of Marián Kočner.
Thank you. Next question.
Jan Kuciak, Aktuality.sk. I want to follow up...
Marián Kočner was involved in every political scandal
in Slovakia of last 20 years.
From the end of the '90s, Mr. Kočner was well-known
for being very cynical, arrogant and threatening.
He was ready to threaten people
in a way which was typical for the '90s.
But he was becoming more and more visible, you know,
he was sticking to those habits even in times
when Slovakia became part of the European Union.
As we say, mafia guys started to wear nice ties,
and they started to use fork and a knife,
and they were becoming, as we say, civilized.
But Kočner sticked to his habits.
Mrs. Tódová, this is my press conference -
and I will talk about what I want.
This is not a conspiracy, Mrs Tódová...
Good morning, Mr. Kočner! Will you be at the court hearing today?
What do you think I'm here for?
- Would you tell us... - Quite a stupid question, no offense...
Can you tell us about the promissory notes?
He was dangerous.
He was scary.
Monika Tódová. Investigative Journalist, Dennik N.
You don't want to meet him, to talk with him.
It was not like a nice conversation.
It was always ugly.
If you write the truth you will learn.
When this is over, I'll make a presser -
and you won't be able to twist my words as usual.
You will learn the whole truth. It'll be a live presser.
Alright? Until then, nothing.
Mr. Kočner built some kind of a career on VAT frauds.
And he was, for a really long time, untouchable.
The last time I saw Jáno was probably in Bratislava
in their editorial office, in Aktuality.
We've been working on a story that actually connected
by then Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico,
to the most powerful Italian mafia, N'Drangheta.
Peter Bárdy. Editor-in-chief, Aktuality. sk.
So it was the first time when we connected the mafia
with high-level politicians.
Due to the fact that the victims did not contact their families -
the investigation started on February 25th.
It was Sunday. Night time.
Two bodies lay on the floor of the home.
Peter Juhás, Lead Police Investigator.
My superiors assigned me to investigate the case.
The house is an older, three-room family home -
that was under reconstruction at the time of the act.
The reconstruction was carried out by Ján Kuciak.
Ján Kuciak's body was located in the basement -
situated on the stairs to the cellar.
The body was in a crouched position.
Ján Kuciak was facing the stairs.
There were gunshot wounds to his chest.
As for the deceased Martina Kušnírová, her body was in the kitchen.
She was lying with her head in a pool of blood.
We found unfinished cups of coffee and tea.
Based on this, we believe the victims -
were enjoying coffee together that evening.
There were open laptops on the table.
Specifically, Martina Kušnírová was looking at wedding dresses.
It was Monday, 6:30, about 6:30,
and my deputy called me that in the village
of Veľká Mača the police found two bodies of killed people.
And Prime Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Kaliňák,
called me and he said that Ján
and his fiancée were killed, so...
You know.
I think we all do feel responsible
that we could do more to protect him.
Tibor Gašpar, President of the Police.
Allow me to express my deepest condolences to the relatives of the victims -
of this severe crime.
And also to all of you who worked with him.
And to the whole journalistic community.
Also allow me to strictly condemn this crime, because -
even though we experience severe crimes -
Slovakia has not yet experienced the murder of a journalist -
probably motivated by his investigative journalism.
[Monica Tódová]: Mr. Gašpar, you said you would do everything to solve it.
Why didn't the police do everything they could to prevent it?
Ján Kuciak wrote mostly about VAT scammers and tax frauds -
and we've been asking you about the same people for years now.
About suspicions of tax frauds, and these people are still free.
It ended with Ján being dead today.
With all due respect, I'm not having a discussion -
whether the police did or didn't do something.
That is not appropriate.
I'll be glad to discuss it with you in the future.
We report on tax frauds -
but you don't investigate, so journalists write about it.
Journalists wouldn't write so much if you did your job.
I will not lead such a discussion with you today.
I don't understand why we are searching for links -
that are probably not related.
You said that it's related to his work...
Feel free to ask another question.
Ján was threatened by Mr. Kočner.
He threatened him with obtaining information on his family.
How did you process that?
Everything is subject to investigation...
But how did you resolve that? It's known he was threatened.
Once again, If I'd had this information I'd give the answer.
No need to discuss, Ján Kuciak himself wrote -
that he filed a complaint and the police ignored it.
If you feel you are working on something that could endanger you -
let's communicate about it.
- Mr. Gašpar... - But we don't trust you!
This wasn't even happening in the 90s.
Although there was some intimidation, vandalism, physical attacks...
Should journalists be afraid that -
the 90s are back in a worse version?
I won't give you an answer...
It may sound a little weird after this, but we are not living in a mafia state.
Thank you for your attention.
The Political Fallout. Five days after the murder
Robert Kaliñák, Minister of the Interior.
All our teams are deployed to find as much evidence as possible.
If the journalist's work was really the motive -
Robert Fico, Prime Minister
I consider it a severe attack on democracy and freedom of press.
Thank you very much. We're going back to work.
Igor Matovič, Leader of the Opposition.
As we stand here we ask -
the Police President, Tibor Gašpar, and Minister of Interior, Robert Kaliňák -
to immediately resign.
These people are in a conflict of interest -
because Ján Kuciak was writing about them, their missteps and their families.
What the opposition is doing today is absurd.
I have never seen such abuse of a murder for political purposes.
But of course this is the opposition. We're used to it.
Ladies and gentlemen, in front of me lies a million euros.
This reward is intended for a person -
who if he has information, gains the courage -
and comes to the police or provides information about this crime.
A million euro on the table was really funny.
And, I mean, we were laughing, we were horrified,
but at the same time we were laughing.
I believe that Robert Fico
at that time underestimated Slovaks
and he somehow didn't understand the cultural coat
of this country.
So the Prime Minister with the Minister
of Interior actually looked like two corrupted guys,
you know, two mafia guys, and nobody actually believed them.
Seven days after the murder.
What's he thinking? Slovaks are idiots? They'll let a million euros fool them?
It's exactly the type of dirty money that Ján Kuciak wrote about.
Tibor Gašpar and Robert Kaliňák turned a blind eye -
and covered for Robert Fico.
Ján Kuciak wrote about it. Did the police's job -
and paid with his life alongside his fiancée.
At the time of Ján's murder, the investigation Ján
and I were working on was still not published.
Eight days after the murder
I thought that the story can be somehow connected
to the murder so we decided to publish as soon as possible,
even though it was not finished.
"Italian mafia in Slovakia. Its tentacles reach into politics."
We found out that.
Prime Minister Robert Fico hired this model,
actually a topless model,
to be his special Supreme State Counselor.
And we found out
that this very young girl was a business partner
of 'Ndrangheta members, the most powerful Italian mafia.
"SUPREME STATE COUNSELOR"
First Major Demonstration. Nine days after the murder.
"AN ATTACK ON A JOURNALIST = AN ATTACK ON ALL OF US"
Demonstrations take place across the country.
I am proud of my colleagues in journalism -
who have understood Ján's message -
and are brave and determined to carry on with it.
However, even the bravest journalists -
are no redeemers of democracy alone.
MAFIA GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY!
They need you: the public, the readers, listeners and viewers -
who are not indifferent about corruption -
Martin M. Šimečka, Journalist
that is devouring our democracy -
and attacking our liberty.
"Open the gate" "Open the gate."
"We don't want Fico!" "We don't want Fico!"
Andrej Kiska, President of Slovakia.
Today, the mistrust of the people towards the state is enormous.
Many don't trust law enforcement.
And this mistrust has its reasons.
We have reached a moment when we sense an arrogance of power.
"WITH THEIR BLOOD"
I spoke personally to Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Unfortunately, I learned that our opinions about possible solutions -
were and still are very different.
Something evil is under the surface.
Something evil is in the very fundamentals of our state.
Today, I want to ask Mr. President a simple question.
September 20, 2017. New York. Fifth Avenue.
I'm asking why did the President of the Slovak Republic -
meet privately with a person with a very suspicious name -
Mr. Soros.
I'm asking... I'm asking...
- You can laugh as much as you want. - This is ridiculous!
- I'm asking... - You are ridiculous!
- Gentlemen, please. - I'm asking...
What happened after the murder of the journalist and his girlfriend -
indicates there is an attempt to totally destabilize this state.
Thank you very much.
What about questions?
- Why can't we ask questions? - Because he's afraid.
Second Major Demonstration. 16 days after the murder.
"No more Fico!" "No more Fico!"
I've decided -
as Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Interior -
to resign.
That anger was so widespread
that at a certain moment former prime minister understood
that he has to do something.
Someone started to dance on the grave of two young dead people -
and attempted to exploit this gruesome murder as a political weapon.
My decision to resign is an independent one.
And the only aim of this decision is to prevent chaos and secure stability.
He stepped down and he placed kind
of a fake prime minister
who he believed he would be manipulating
to the position of prime minister.
Gašpar played an important role
in this mafia state,
and those protesting demanded his resignation.
I don't think the protests represent the opinion of the whole society.
That means, if you were expecting me to resign today -
I will not. I will fight this struggle to the end.
Kuciak was murdered under your watch...
Yes, but if we agree things weren't supervised well...
Are you asking the general prosecutor to leave?
Did I hear such a demand from someone?
And he has more responsibility than I do.
Have you ever asked such a question?
Considering the current state of affairs -
and the need to stabilize the situation -
Peter Pellegrini. Newly appointed Prime Minister
and protect the police from attacks by the media -
and its activities being questioned.
Me and the Police President, General Gašpar, agreed that -
he will resign from his position as Police President.
So, I thank everybody one more time and...
what to say? I guess I'll see you next time. Goodbye.
I don't think it is a coincidence
that shortly after the resignation of the police president,
Marián Kočner was brought into court
for one of the frauds exposed by Jáno.
Mr. Kočner, can you give a statement?
What decision do you expect?
Gentlemen, after the hearing. Excuse me.
We will give statements after the court hearing.
Did you hear the lawyer?
- Won't you comment at all? - Nothing.
I'm not sure Kočner realized
something had changed.
There is no connection to the murder, but Kočner was taken
into pre-trial detention for the financial fraud.
We ask you to commemorate Ján and Martina with one minute of silence.
With the police president gone and Kočner in jail,
I think Slovaks started to trust the investigators
and the investigation into the murder of Jáno and Martina.
I can honestly tell you that the camera footage -
is 16 terabytes of data -
which converts to thousands of hours of recordings -
that were seized in the investigation.
From the CCTV footage, we were able to identify two relevant persons -
of which one appeared on camera at the time the act was committed.
February 21st at 8:21PM.
The shooting itself was carried out in utmost discretion and silence.
Based on the time data, we were able to identify a vehicle -
that behaved in a way that supported our hypothesis of two perpetrators.
One being the shooter and the other being the driver.
Once we had this vehicle, we performed a more elaborate examination -
and we were able to specify some of the characteristics of the vehicle.
We narrowed -
the set of possible vehicles that could take part in the crime -
to about 3000 vehicles -
which we checked individually.
We had operatives walking around neighborhoods day and night.
People may not even know their vehicles were inspected.
We also collected a massive amount of telecommunications data.
We documented so-called burner phones and burner SIM cards.
We were able to identify -
a transmission between two burner SIM cards.
In the next stage of the investigation, we were able to connect -
one of these burner SIM cards -
to a specific person who was already -
connected to the assassination of a businessman in 2016.
We checked this person and in the set of 3000 potential vehicles -
we found that his father owned one of them.
And then we took operational steps to investigate this person-
including wiretapping.
We were able to use telecommunications data -
to subsequently identify a second person -
who was using the other burner phone.
And we also identified one more person, the middleman.
The Raids. Seven months after the murder.
Police, police!
Come on, come on!
Come with us!
Put your hands...! Put your hands...!
Don't move! Come down! Come down!
Tomáš Szabó, the driver.
Tomáš Szabó is a former police investigator.
And because Tomáš Szabó needed someone to commit the crime
with him, he asked his cousin, Miroslav Marček.
Miroslav Marček is a former soldier
who made money by being a guard on the ships close
to Somalia, to prevent the ships from pirate attacks.
He was the one who pulled the trigger
and shot both Jáno and Martina.
This is the room Ján and I shared growing up.
Jozef Kuciak, Ján's Brother.
It's changed a bit. When we were kids -
the beds were separated with a table in between.
This was my table by the window and this was Ján's.
We did homework over there on the computer in the evenings.
The room was divided by posters, on one side there were his...
Manchester. And the bands he liked.
On the other side were mine.
In the middle we put posters that united us.
Here are the artists from every genre.
It was like the connection of the two walls.
Every mom worries about her children.
I was scared. When she was 15 years old -
my husband died. And she got a summer job at the lake without my permission.
And all sorts of mobsters went there, and -
the manager liked her because she wasn't afraid.
The other girls, when those men -
pissed under the tables, the other girls left -
but she scolded them and gave them a mop to clean it up.
She would stand up for herself, in spite of everything.
Of course they wanted a family. Martina joked about a big family and many animals.
And she bickered with Ján whether the animals would stay outside or inside.
She wanted them to stay inside.
It was cute, how they used to bicker.
She had it all planned out, where the cats and dogs will stay.
- And they were supposed to get married... - In May.
May 2018.
Should we be talking?
Shall I make a concert for you?
Roman Kvasnica, Lawyer representing Martina's family.
I personally met Mrs Kušnírová after the murder in May, 2018.
Daniel Lipšic, Lawyer representing Ján's family
I remember, after meeting the parents
and the siblings of Ján Kuciak,
it was still winter when I came out
and went to my car, it started snowing
and it was a very strong emotional meeting for me.
We are on the side of prosecution
and so the injured party is entitled
to have legal representation.
I think there were some very good investigators involved
in the case and very good prosecutors as well.
And it led to results.
The first to cooperate
with law enforcement was Zoltán Andruskó.
Zoltán Andruskó was pizzeria owner.
And he knew Szabó and Marček and approached them
with this offer to murder Ján Kuciak
for a certain sum of money.
He started cooperating right after their arrest
in late September 2018.
And he was able to point to Alena Zsuzsová,
who was detained 24 hours after him.
Because he was hired by Alena Zsuzsová
to actually take the deal.
She was a mystery.
Really long black hair.
And she was kind of hiding.
Alena Zsuzsová connects us to Marián Kočner.
She got this request for murder
of Ján Kuciak from Marián Kočner.
None of the other defendants had any motive.
The only person that had a motive was Marián Kočner.
And the motive was that Ján Kuciak wrote extensively
about his economic criminal activity.
I started watching their communication at a press conference made by Mr Kočner.
I think sometime in 2017.
Ján Kuciak, Aktuality. I want to follow up...
And there I saw that Ján Kuciak asked questions that completely pushed -
figuratively speaking, Kočner into the corner, he could not answer his questions.
I saw that Ján Kuciak had secured information about his possible VAT fraud.
And that irritated him. And could have been the reason -
why Marián Kočner might want to get rid of this young boy.
- What's your relation to... - You've asked enough questions...
You've asked three, thank you.
Please next.
Kočner hated Ján Kuciak.
He had to hate him because Ján was the only real enemy
of Kočner's activities.
What suspicions do you have about my business?
Well, you're accused of economic crimes.
- Mr. Kuciak. - Yes?
You're not a journalist, you're just a hired hack.
You're far from being a journalist.
Can I say something?
Yes, Mr. Kuciak. I'm listening.
Everything I've written, whether about you or not -
is based on public records.
Be sure that I'll give you -
my special attention. To you personally, Mr. Kuciak.
- Is this a threat? - No, why?
I don't know why you're saying that.
I'm telling you calmly I'll pay special attention to you -
you personally, your mother, your father and your siblings.
As soon as I find any dirt. Any missteps -
on you, or anyone in your family -
I will publish it in the same way as you do.
- I hope I won't be there. - Believe me, you will. Goodbye.
I think we just underestimated the situation
and the power of Kočner.
And, you know, he...
After the call with Kočner,
when Kočner was threatening him, he called me.
And we just made fun of it, you know, like,
"Ha ha ha, he's going to collect dirt on you,
that's impossible."
I should've probably evaluated it better.
Kočner, he's for me something like a concentration
of all bad things in the society.
I hate him, you know.
The breakthrough in the investigation was Peter Tóth.
He was Kočner's confidant and kind of right-hand man
for many kinds of dirty jobs for many years.
Peter Tóth, Former Information Service Officer
Peter Tóth said he started to believe Kočner was involved
in the murder after the arrest of Zsuzsová
and he wanted to come clean.
So what Tóth did was he packed a car
with the evidence Kočner wanted him to keep safe
and he brought it to the police,
including two of Kočner's iPhones.
This led police to search Kočner's home
while he was still detained for the financial fraud.
The police discovered a key piece of evidence.
It was hidden in the safe room, and it was a USB key.
And it really helped the investigators
to charge Marián Kočner with ordering the murder of Ján.
Marek Para, Marián Kočner's defense lawyer.
May I have sunglasses?
[Filmmaker] Oh, yeah.
It's OK?
Everybody has enough space?
Uh, social life?
Off-the-record.
My social life ended about June 2018.
You have to keep your secrets.
And you cannot trust even other lawyers,
'cause a friend today can be an enemy tomorrow.
I do not trust people as before.
And it's also a problem when you go to a lunch or a coffee
and everybody wants to talk about it.
The society and the people
see you as a very close person to Mr. Kočner.
[Filmmaker] Can we go back on the record?
Yes, you can use what you want.
From the beginnings
in this case I considered every possibility.
I spent hours and hours studying the case file,
talking with my client and...
I wanted really to find out the truth.
Step by step, more and more,
when I could study the case file,
I was convinced that he is...
That he's innocent.
“Please be available...” Unknown Number.
At the beginning of October, 2019,
I was on my way to the office, and I received a message,
something like, "Please be available."
And then I received a call offering me and explaining me that...
"We want to give you a copy
of the police investigation file with all the annexes."
70 terabytes.
Seven zero.
It wasn't just the murder case police file
that was so exciting, it's an exact copy of the cell phones
of Marián Kočner and his computers.
I asked the source for the motivation of giving me the data,
and the explanation convinced me
because it was before elections,
and if the recent ruling party will win the election,
everyone who even touched the data is going to be damned.
The source was afraid that the data would disappear,
so we would like to have it abroad, out of Slovakia.
And there was like this ego in me, like,
"Yeah, I'm going to publish excellent stories from this data
and I'm going to be the only one."
But then I decided I'm not going to do it this way.
We had this idea that we needed to create a team
that would trust each other and would cover all kinds
of media, you know, dailies, weeklies, TVs,
to get full access to the data.
So we came with the idea
that we will have one super secure room in Bratislava.
There won't be the data,
but there will be computers specially designed
to access the server.
And we are not going to tell anyone where is the server,
not to be able to attack it, to steal it, to take it down.
We called it, well, we didn't call it,
it got a nickname, "Kočner's Library."
Kočner's Library is basically this small room.
Júlia Zelenková. Journalist, TV JOJ.
It's without any daylight.
It's white and gray.
It's ugly.
But the benefit is you can more concentrate on your work.
We didn't know what we are going to find there,
but this data could lead us to new cases of corruption
that could totally shake Slovakia.
Here are the devices from Miroslav Marček,
which is the shooter.
Tomáš Szabó, which was the driver.
And we have Zolton Andruskó, which was the middleman, basically.
Peter Sabo. Journalist, Aktuality. sk.
And, yeah, we have also Alena Zsuzsová.
As you can see, we have SIM cards, tablets, computers,
and also other people that has been somehow investigated.
There are two most important devices
that so far revealed the inner-life of Marián Kočner,
and those are two iPhones: K1 and K2.
These are all the messages from the phone.
It comes really back to the year 2012 up to 2018,
so it's six years worth of communication.
Tens of thousands of messages.
It's basically a reflection of his virtual life.
The inner life of Marián Kočner
and how actually he was ruling Slovakia in a way.
We knew that the country is corrupted.
Now, after obtaining those data, we could prove
the justice system failed,
we could prove the police is corrupted,
the judges are corrupted,
the general prosecutor was a personal friend of someone
who ordered assassination of a journalist.
It was all there.
The Assassin's Confession. 14 months after the murder.
By the time we arrived, it was already dark.
He dropped me off near the apartment building.
On the left was an empty playing field.
I had the gun. It was a 9mm Luger.
As I was walking along the field -
along the pub or whatever it is -
- Bar? - Bar or something. Its lights were on.
Behind the building, the pavement finished.
And there was a dirt path with the grass trodden down.
And this led to a hole in the fence.
Through the hole I emerged on a path.
This entire walk could have taken -
five or six minutes.
There was nobody home.
I walked into the yard, the gate was unlocked.
I waited in the garden shed or whatever it's called, the annex.
I was waiting for quite a long time, about an hour and a half, until -
they got back home.
I could see two people, he was there with his girlfriend.
I didn't leave the annex.
Not until -
his girlfriend went to the toilet. That's when I decided to act.
Boom! That was the first shot.
OK. Do the experts have questions?
- We could measure the height. - We measure the height, OK?
We can stop recording.
He hit the wall with his back.
He fell to the ground. I was already focused on the woman...
- Which wall do you mean? - Over there.
One second, please.
Get down on your knees.
I don't know where his hands were. Not in front of him for sure.
Put them under you.
Or beside you. But his legs were bent, not straight.
- Like a frog. - Like this?
- No, his knees were higher. - Higher?
- His knees were under him. - Like this?
Yes, like this.
I went on...
Perhaps right here I cocked it once or twice.
Was the shot aimed for the head?
The head. I aimed with the suppressor.
Was the hand straight or beside the body?
At this position, maybe.
- Aimed at the head? - Aimed at the head.
The victim fell to her knees. And she fell back.
- Like this? - Something like that.
- Where were her hands and feet? - I don't know that.
Did she react to the shot?
She didn't react at all. I saw her being hit.
Where to?
I guess somewhere around here. I'm not sure.
- Somewhere near the nose? - I guess so.
Okay. So, no gurgling or coughing...
No. I turned around and left. I didn't spend much time here.
You didn't even check if...
- No. I saw the hit. - You saw the hit.
Okay, we can stop the recording.
May I add one more thing?
I'd like to apologize to the families -
but I've been told it's done like this -
not by writing a personal letter or something.
I cannot forbid you from writing a letter. If you want this on the record...
I would like to apologize to the Kuciak and Kušnírová families.
For what we have done.
That's it really. I know it can't fix what we have done.
It cannot be undone, but at least I'd like to apologize to them.
- That's it? - Yes.
The trial takes place before three professional judges.
The Trial Begins. 22 months after the murder.
Five people have been charged with the murder of Ján Kuciak.
Marček was the hit man.
He made a guilty plea at the start of the trial.
Then Zoltán Andruskó, he went into plea-bargaining
and eventually was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.
And then the three others, they entered a plea of not-guilty
at the beginning of the trial: Marián Kočner, Alena Zsuzsová
and Tomáš Zsabo.
It's difficult to talk. We'll have a rough day.
We hope the process will be orderly. Secretly we were hoping -
they would not show up today -
that they wouldn't be here... but they will.
Seeing the accused in person is not easy.
People were on the squares in 2018 because they felt
that there is no justice in this country.
So the legacy of the decision of the court may be
that people will start, slowly,
to feel that justice is coming back.
That may be the legacy of the outcome of the trial.
I do believe that Mr. Kočner is guilty
of ordering the murder.
His guilt will be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
I respect the presumption of innocence.
Though I believe the charges are justified -
and the evidence proves the guilt of Mr. Kočner.
Kočner's Library.
And it's not just Kočner who is interesting,
but also his honey-trapper, Alena Zsuzsová.
Alena Zsuzsová is probably most renowned for her role
of being a honey trap collecting kompromat for Marián Kočner.
Hi, tiger.
Teach me, tiger, how to kiss you.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Alena Zsuzsová was taking pictures
from the internet of models
and she photoshopped her face to their bodies.
Teach me first.
Teach me what to do.
Touch me, tiger, when I'm close to you.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Help me, tiger, I don't know what to do.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
So Alena Zsuzsová created a fake profile on social media.
She started conversations with important men,
politicians or prosecutors for example.
We have the evidence
that she was successful honeytrapping those powerful people
because she was forwarding those messages, including some
of the very intimate pictures, to Marián Kočner.
So here is the list of all the politicians.
Different political parties, some of them were members
of parliament, some of them were ex-ministers.
The biggest enemies
of Marián Kočner were called "Sheep Class One"
and she got some sum of amount when she got the kompromat.
Then there were "Second Class Sheep"
and "Third Class Sheep."
Sometimes they even exchanged pictures, nude pictures,
or even videos, for example videos of masturbation.
She says she has another picture of a penis
in her collection and she asks him,
"Are you sure you want to see 'it'? I warn you...
I've never seen an uglier one. It almost made me throw up."
And we have recording of her phone call
with Speaker of Parliament Andrej Danko.
I could leave the car at the parking lot at the airport.
I can't wait a second more. Lots of kisses, all over you.
Uh huh, same here.
Not more than me. Finally you'll be mine for the whole night.
Well, I hope we survive that.
Are you looking forward to it?
Sure thing.
We both know it's been a long time...
So lots of kisses and see each other on Monday?
Okay, I'm looking forward.
Well, lots of kisses. Take care and have a nice day!
They even tried to manage the date,
but she always canceled the date like a few hours
before they were supposed to meet.
Miss Zsuzsová was a person
who had a very long relationship with Marián Kočner.
She probably was involved in all sorts
of activities in his favor.
But nobody knew about the relationship.
Nobody knew about it.
But it is clear that it was a very close and clandestine,
I would think, relationship.
He had probably total trust in her,
and from the communication we have,
it is clear that she adored him.
She sent every single morning to Marián Kočner message,
"You are my king."
"You are the best."
"You are the biggest."
So she was for him like a drug, like a magical mirror
from the fairy tale about seven dwarfs.
And from her side it was really a man
that she could count on to support her
and her daughter for many, many years.
I don't think she will ever betray him.
And I think she was able to do anything
if he asked her to do it.
- We're recording? - Yes.
The accused Mr. Andruskó is still at the toilet.
Come in.
Mr. Andruskó, you sit here.
- Good afternoon. - Your lawyer will be next to you.
The first question is for Mr. Andruskó. Do you know the accused?
Yes, I do.
I've known her for eight or nine years.
We met on the Internet.
Mrs. Zsuzsová, do you know the accused?
Yes, I do.
When and how did you get the order to murder Ján Kuciak?
I got the order from Mrs. Zsuzsová in the winter of 2018.
I was at her place and she brought a laptop.
- Where in her place? - We were in my car.
- So, she got into your car? - She got into my car.
She inserted a USB drive into her computer.
"She inserted a USB drive..."
Then she opened a file named "Kuciak."
- Kuciak? - Kuciak.
- There were photos of Kuciak. - What did you see in those photos?
His daily routine. How he got up, went to work -
how he left work for a coffee break.
I could see the address, house and license plate on the photos.
She said Kuciak should be taken out, that her fortune teller had advised her.
Don't react! "her fortune teller had advised her."
I'm speaking to you. I'm looking into your eyes.
Well, sorry, but I...
- Excuse me, just write down your notes. - Sure.
He is speaking to me.
React to the fact that Mr. Andruskó has identified you -
as the person who ordered Kuciak's murder.
Yes. That's absolutely absurd...
Never in my life -
have I seen any files on surveilling Kuciak.
And I definitely didn't show him any on a laptop -
because I don't have one and I'm technologically illiterate -
- apart from my cell phone. - "...technologically illiterate."
You have to read the truth?
No, these are just notes about what you said...
So I don't know who showed -
Mr. Andruskó those photos, but it definitely wasn't me.
Laughing won't help you.
Mr. Andruskó, the next question is for you.
- Were you told who ordered it? - Yes, I was.
Mrs. Zsuzsová told me explicitly it was for Mr. Kočner...
- "Mrs. Alena Zsuzsová told me..." - Kočner's money...
"it would be for Mr. Kočner and it was Kočner's money."
And that it should be carried out for him.
Mr. Kočner has not ordered any murder from me.
Not the murder of Mr. Kuciak, or anybody else.
I want to ask Mr. Andruskó...
Who really ordered the murder of Mr. Kuciak?
- For real? - Yes, I'm dead serious.
- I'm asking you who ordered you? - You ordered me.
- Of course. - You pushed me to make it happen.
Why did you have Kuciak killed? You had him killed, sweetheart.
- You ordered and confessed to the murder. - You ordered it.
- The only one who ordered it is you. - You ordered it.
- You... - You ordered it.
- And what would I get out of it? - For Kočner.
But it would harm Kočner. Are you insane?
I guess I am because I did it for you.
The first piece of evidence, the crucial piece
of evidence, is the testimony of Zoltán Andruskó,
because Zoltán Andruskó testified
that Alena Zsuzsová told him
that the murder is being committed
on the order of Marián Kočner.
He testified right after the arrest
that the day after the murder he came to see Alena Zsuzsová
in the morning to tell her that the murder was committed.
And then she went for the money to Marián Kočner.
Later in the day he came back again
and he got the first 50,000 euros from Alena Zsuzsová.
Now, at that time, when he was arrested,
he didn't know what the evidence is.
But when you take the information we have
from the base transceiver stations,
mobile transceiver stations, we know how the people moved
on the 22nd of February.
And it all matches with Zoltán Andruskó's testimony.
The mobile phones were on the same place of Andruskó
and Zsuzsová in the morning,
then Zsuzsová and Kočner in the afternoon,
then Andruskó and Zsuzsová in the evening
in Komarno back again.
So it all comes together as a puzzle.
She gave me the money and I left.
- She just gave you the money? - Yes.
- When? - It all happened before noon.
In this moment he will testify again
and again and again that at this moment
in the morning hours he got the money from her.
It all happened before noon...
- It happened before noon? - Before noon.
Interesting is that the prosecutor went to court and said,
"I want to prove that afternoon she got the money"
"from Mr. Kočner and she gave it to Andruskó."
Even his answer to the question of prosecutor,
"Do you remember exactly the time when you get the money?"
He said, "Yes, this is what I remember exactly."
"It was before noon."
If the prosecutor claims that BTS can't lie,
then it is in favor to Mr. Kočner.
One of the key pieces of the evidence is Threema.
Threema is a mobile app for encrypted communication.
And within the conversation with Alena Zsuzsová,
they daily exchanged like tens or hundreds of messages.
They were really in constant touch.
According to what I was told and I hope I can explain it as a layman -
he deleted his own communication.
However, it remained there and would have stayed -
in the memory until rewritten by other information.
He thought he deleted it.
I had a dreamt an awful dream. I mean, a really terrible one!!! My teeth were falling out.
21st is the day on which Ján Kuciak
and Martina Kušnírová were murdered.
They communicate in codewords.
They talk about falling teeth, what it means,
and it means death.
[...] It's been snowing like hell, so it couldn't have been done earlier.
They used "snow" to refer to something -
that hinders some activity.
Suddenly, Mrs. Zsuzsová -
used a profane expression when she alerted Mr. Kočner that -
something was wrong.
And we're fucked.
In addition to the journalist, Martina Kušnírová was also murdered.
What?
Crucial is the reaction of Mr. Kočner -
Did the snow melt?
He asked her, "Did the snow melt?"
Right after that, Mrs. Zsuzsová reacted:
1 fell out for real now.
"One fell out for real now."
In my opinion, it means that -
she announced Ján's murder to Mr. Kočner.
50... > SOON Skull & Bones.
This is a text message that Kočner is sending
to Zsuzsová on the day of the murder,
50 and a line and skull and bones.
Skull and bones is a symbol of death.
And 50,000 euros was the sum that was paid
to Zoltan Andruskó for the murder.
The defense understands
that this communication is incriminating,
otherwise they would not fight so vigorously
against allowing this piece of evidence
to be presented in court.
I'm glad we were able to decipher it, and I don't think anyone has any doubt -
that those words meant something different than they seemed at first.
In Threema you speak in open phrases.
You hide nothing.
You don't need to hide something because it is hidden.
For me, impossible meanings in the basic words,
like teeth, like snow.
If you use the word snow in summer,
I would think it's strange.
But if you use the word snow in winter, it's common for me.
It's almost normal word in winter.
Kočner's Secret World. The years leading up to the murder.
Good morning. We'll have two coffees.
Small ones?
Yes, yes.
This is the belly of Marián Kočner.
And actually "Belly" was the nickname of Marián Kočner.
For a long time we were wondering why Marián Kočner
is immune to prosecution.
I mean, why all his cases are turned down by prosecutors.
This is the evidence why.
It's a video showing the close ties
between the general prosecutor, Dobroslav Trnka,
who has almost unlimited powers in Slovakia,
and Marián Kočner.
He did escape prosecution because of his connections.
We started investigating
in 2012 his money-laundering activities.
And because of his connections
at the general prosecution office,
it was suspended very, very soon.
There was an order from the general prosecution office
just the next day
to hand over the whole file for inspection.
That was just absurd.
That was really...
I have never experienced that in my practice.
It was practically impossible to investigate anything.
They will be out of the frame. They usually sit here.
Do they sit there?
They are setting the hidden camera
as a kind of a trap.
Show me...
It could collect sensitive data
on the people coming to the office
of the general prosecutor.
It's another way how to create kompromat on them.
He made two billion! Fucker...
He also tricked Fico because -
he didn't split the money and [Fico] didn't realize it.
This is how...
This is basically how failed state looks like.
So not only mafia state, but also failed state,
which is not able to secure justice for everybody equally.
You don't understand. It's not about when or what. I just wanted to inform you who is against you.
- Delete it please. Just in case. - Can you meet next week?
I'll figure it out, so we're 100% sure.
- Watch out for those promissory notes. - I'm here.
Have patience. He's a tough nut to crack. I'll let you know tomorrow.
I never considered Marián Kočner as a person
from whom I expected something good.
But the people cooperating with him in politics
and in law enforcement and in the judiciary,
for me, they are worse.
The judge, Vladimir Sklenka,
who really was a great source of information
for Marián Kočner, he basically gave him information
about ongoing cases and other judges.
For example, here the judge is asking Kočner
how he should rule.
So judge Sklenka has problem
to write the verdicts, basically.
So he was asking many times for help from Kočner.
And Kočner's lawyers were actually sometimes
even writing the verdicts for him.
So Kočner was something like a manager of these verdicts.
That's how it works.
One of the most important people
for Marián Kočner was State Secretary
and former judge Monika Jankovská.
He called her "My monkey" and he exchanged more than...
More than 6,000 messages with Monika Jankovská.
And they were actually talking a lot
about how to influence other judges.
They were talking about ongoing cases,
and from her position she also made pressure on two judges
to decide the cases on behalf of Marián Kočner.
And then they were also talking about splitting the money.
I suppose you'll split Zuzana's reward with Denisa.
No, Denisa gets a part of mine.
I promised that cunt something and now I must keep it.
They sent each other kisses and hearts.
And they were joking.
“LMFAO. I could get Al Capone out of jail”.
So, that's it.
I want to show you something.
This guy, it's Norbert Bödör.
He's this kind of a Slovak oligarch
who was really into MMA fighting, and he trained one
of the best Slovak fighters.
But also, due to his father, he was very influential
in Slovak police force and law enforcement.
I think Kočner is an intelligent man.
He knew he didn't need to communicate directly with the police...
He just needed someone to communicate on his behalf.
Perhaps this was Mr. Bödör.
Bödör was giving information to Kočner
from police databases.
When Kočner requested a certain information
from a database, he got it from Bödör.
When he needs to know the name of a police officer
who investigates any case, he asks Bödör.
Incoming InApp Call_HANGUP1dffe4bc41c4df2 [in background]
Find out who is investigating and who is the prosecutor over THAT thing Špirko made Varga sign under.
If he needs to change the result, he asks.
Here is Kočner asking Bödör to ask the police investigator
to take medical leave
so he can postpone Kočner's investigation
for another two weeks.
If Marián Kočner needed some information
on anyone he was interested in,
Please check a person named Adolf [blurred] for me. [...]
There was no problem to give him names, date of birth,
also information about parents, children, whatever.
Kočner is asking Norbert Bödör for a so called Spider,
which is basically personal data
from the state's registers, like all the relatives,
the numbers of the passport, the number of ID cards,
driving licenses and so.
All cases in which Marián Kočner was involved
were handled by two investigators
from the National Crime Agency.
And from the communication we know that he was taking care
of those two investigators.
Every single case was assigned to these two investigators.
Of course they weren't able to get his cases on their desks.
It was somebody from the leadership of the police force
that was assigning them all these cases.
From the information we have in communication
of Marián Kočner and Norbert Bödör,
we know that he had a direct link with Tibor Gašpar.
We know that Norbert Bödör was a close friend,
even a relative of the former police president.
Our investigation uncovered further information relevant to Kuciak's murder.
We found that Ján's personal file was accessed -
in the police's internal database prior to the murder.
Can you please pull the file on two more people for me?
It shouldn't be a problem to get passport copies.
We believe that -
the person who ordered Ján Kuciak's file to be accessed -
may be associated with the top management of the police force.
For six years, I've been explaining we are a safe country.
We do not live in a mafia state.
We believe that Kočner got Ján's address
from the head of police, Tibor Gašpar.
And I am sure that Gašpar gave this address to Bödör
and Bödör to Kočner.
And now these connections coming out -
to the courts, the Prosecutor's Office -
and even the police.
We can see what a monstrous thing this was.
And call it by its name: Mafia.
Ján Kuciak, Velká Mača 558, Galanta.
The video is done by someone who was surveilling Ján.
You see the guy who was doing the surveillance, he's hiding.
He didn't want to be seen by Martina.
So someone was following them,
following their daily routines, especially focused on Jáno.
Those pictures and those surveillance reports were found
on a USB stick in the safe of Marián Kočner's house.
And of course we also know
that Andruskó had identified the photos
from the surveillance of Ján Kuciak
that Alena Zsuzsová showed him on a laptop in the car.
And these pictures were identical to the pictures found
in Marián Kočner's house during the house search.
So it linked the surveillance to the murder
and to Marián Kočner.
I think this is, for me, this is really strong evidence.
- Everybody wanted Mr. - Kočner to be the one.
They wanted the police to get him.
Nobody was looking at the evidence in whole,
but just pieces of the evidence were shown to the public
in order to convince them that he is guilty.
- Should I make some comments? - Take your time.
This is Mr. Marček, the shooter, and he was also asked
about the photos from the surveillance
and if he could recognize them.
Read and look at all the photos.
He got a little bit of help from his attorney,
a little bit of help from everybody,
but still he never recognized the photos.
Probably.
But I remember a photo where I could see his face clearly. And here it's not clear.
This is the most important moment.
So he saw another, a different picture.
Look one more time, just in case.
- And he was wearing? - A black hoodie. Maybe a yellow t-shirt.
It was a front shot of him while walking.
I can't see that photo here.
Actually, I recognized him from that photo.
According to these photos, I could not recognize him.
This is the most important part.
I wouldn't have recognized him from this one.
If he never saw the pictures from the surveillance,
there is no connection to Mr. Kočner.
"I wouldn't have recognized him from this photo." Is that right?
Yes.
I believe Slovak society is absolutely convinced
that Marián Kočner did it.
The Day of the Verdict. 31 months after the murder.
There's huge public pressure.
There's huge media pressure.
There are political pressures.
I believe 100% Kočner is guilty.
But if I would totally detach myself from the case
and if I would be totally honest,
I don't think there's enough evidence
to send someone to prison for a lifetime.
All rise.
Listen to the verdict in the name of the Slovak Republic.
The Special Criminal Court -
at this hearing on September 3, 2020, has decided as follows:
The accused Marián Kočner, born May 17, 1963 -
and Alena Zsuzsová, born June 13, 1974.
According to section 285, subsection (c) of the criminal code -
Not guilty.
I'm not gonna comment.
Do you think Kočner and Zsuzsová are responsible for the murder?
Yes.
I had started to believe justice finally had come to Slovakia.
But now I see we're still at square one.
It's the first verdict. Now the dispute moves to the supreme court.
And we will win. Justice will prevail if we don't give up.
Ján and Martina's parents are not giving up.
I'm gonna hug all of you one by one.
I cried a bit during the verdict.
This was just the first round. Next one will be a knock out.
Let's hope so.
Yeah.
Zlata, let me hug you too.
- What next? We fight? - Sure.
First round won't stop us.
That's exactly what I think.
The important thing is, this didn't look rigged to me.
I don't think that, understand? This is essential.
At least to my knowledge, I don't think so.
If we don't win in Slovakia we go farther. I've been to Brussels and can go again...
Martina and Ján deserve justice.
Like in those American movies...
you take justice into your own hands. No other choice.
- Be careful they're filming you. - So what? It's the truth.
Otherwise you cannot get anything done here.
Like in "Three billboards..." whose daughter had been...
with a machine gun, right?
No, not like them. Only beat them up.
No killing. Like Martina said, "I wouldn't sink to their level."
Just punch their faces or spit on them. That's enough for me.
Dammit.
And, you know, Slovakia is now really in the process
of revolution that was started by Ján's murder
and the investigation and exposing all those,
all this corruption.
After the police analyzed Kočner's phone,
they took for interrogation one judge,
and this judge started to talk,
and he exposed the other corrupted judges and how it worked,
and the others started to talk and, you know,
the whole system is collapsing.
A storm like we've never seen. Judges in Kočner's phone in handcuffs.
Judges Jankovská, Maruniaková, Hajtová, Cviková. All connected to Kocner's case.
Police detained 13 judges, two former judges and three others.
They face charges of corruption and obstruction of justice.
Those who should have been fighting
against the mafia were actually key persons
of that mafia system.
Allow me to express my deepest condolences...
Tibor Gašpar, one of the most powerful persons
in the Slovak law enforcement is now charged
with heading an organized criminal group.
They transported Gašpar to Bratislava. He is facing several criminal charges.
The investigators say that he was getting the orders
from a Slovak oligarch Norbert Bödör.
And Norbert Bödör was giving him instructions
on what to investigate, what not, who to investigate,
who not, what to ignore, what to focus on.
And he was passing these orders
to other top police officials.
Put it in simple terms means that the most powerful mafia
in Slovakia was actually the police.
And, for me, it's shocking, you know,
I was just like, "What?"
Police were busy across Slovakia. They detained the former Chief of NAKA -
the former head of the Anti-corruption Force -
and the former head of the Financial Police. All in handcuffs.
Suddenly there were dozens of them in custody.
People lost completely understanding of who is who.
And they started to understand
that the situation was even worse than they thought before.
The mood in the society was like,
"We want to see people go to jail,"
and it was happening.
But the rest of it, it was absolute chaos.
And the populistic part of the opposition,
they convinced people that they are the ones
who should be voted in.
And Igor Matovič
as a leading populist simply won the majority of the votes.
Thank you for voting. Don't be afraid of the future...
Although very convincing in opposition,
Igor Matovič proved
to be absolutely incompetent in government.
And I'm afraid that the party
that created the corrupted system and lost because
of Jáno's murder can regain the power in the next elections.
Suddenly many people are able
to say something that was unheard of two years ago,
"Well, maybe they were not very fair,
maybe they were stealing,
but the country was functioning better than now."
And that's tragic, you know, when people are starting
to compromise their previous anger
against these thieves, against mafia.
And I believe it's because people are disappointed
that the changes are slow, they are impatient.
What can European Union learn
from the whole process in Slovakia?
I'm not very optimistic about that part, honestly speaking,
because immediately after the murder of Ján Kuciak many
of us in Slovakia were literally screaming,
"Stop financing Slovakia from Euro Funds."
"Once you will do it, Slovakia will be able to move out"
"of oligarchic state more efficiently and faster."
European Union should be much tougher
on states like Slovakia.
I still believe the legacy of Jáno is really big.
Well, it's kind of a tragedy that he was the reason
that all those information got exposed.
And for me this is probably the most depressing part
of all the story, that he can't see it now.
And I believe that, you know, even if you are...
desperate and frustrated and you believe that change is not possible,
you can see it is.
And we can see it, this case, that the change is possible.
And it's up to us to decide
if it's going to be good or bad change.
Marián Kočner was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the financial fraud unrelated to the murders of Ján and Martina.
Alena Zsuzsová was sentenced to 21 years in prison for taking part in an unrelated assassination of a Slovak mayor in 2010.
The Supreme Court rejected the not guilty verdicts for Marián Kočner and Alena Zsuzsová in relation to the murders of Ján and Martina.
The case was sent back to the Special Criminal Court and re-trial started in Frebruary 2022.
Prosecutors merged the case with charges that Kočner and Zsuzsová also conspired to assassinate two prosecutors and a lawyer.
A final verdict is yet to be handed down.
In April 2022 prosecutors charged three more individuals with creating an organized crime group:
Former Minister of Interior Robert Kaliñák.
Former Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Attorney Marek Para