The Killing of a Journalist (2022) Movie Script
This is surveillance
video showing Jno Kuciak,
the investigative reporter,
and next to him is his
fiance, Martina Kunrov.
Someone was following
their daily routines,
especially focused on Jno.
And few months after this
surveillance was done,
Jno 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 Jn'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 Holcov, Investigative Journalist
and the judges and the police,
there are corrupted people.
Supreme Court, Constitutional
Court, courts in general,
Michal Vaeka, 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 Jn Kuciak
and Martina Kunrov
was the breaking point,
when we realized, "Okay, now
they are ready even to kill."
I believe 100% Marin
Koner ordered the murder
of Jno 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 Kuciakov,
Jn'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 Kunirov, Martina's Mother.
"You write about bad people
and I'm worried about you," I told Jn.
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.
Jn was working on a lot
of topics, including Koner,
Mr. Bdr, Slovak oligarchs,
Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Jn 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 Marin Koner.
Thank you. Next question.
Jan Kuciak, Aktuality.sk.
I want to follow up...
Marin Koner was involved
in every political scandal
in Slovakia of last 20 years.
From the end of the '90s,
Mr. Koner 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 Koner sticked to his habits.
Mrs. Tdov, this is my press conference -
and I will talk about what I want.
This is not a conspiracy, Mrs Tdov...
Good morning, Mr. Koner!
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 Tdov. 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. Koner built some kind
of a career on VAT frauds.
And he was, for a really
long time, untouchable.
The last time I saw Jno
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 Brdy.
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 Juhs, 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 Jn Kuciak.
Jn Kuciak's body
was located in the basement -
situated on the stairs to the cellar.
The body was in a crouched position.
Jn Kuciak was facing the stairs.
There were gunshot wounds to his chest.
As for the deceased Martina Kunrov,
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 Kunrov
was looking at wedding dresses.
It was Monday, 6:30, about 6:30,
and my deputy called
me that in the village
of Vek Maa the police found
two bodies of killed people.
And Prime Minister of
Internal Affairs, Mr. Kalik,
called me and he said that Jn
and his fiance were killed, so...
You know.
I think we all do feel responsible
that we could do more to protect him.
Tibor Gapar, 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.
Mr. Gapar, you said
you would do everything to solve it.
Why didn't the police do
everything they could to prevent it?
Jn 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 Jn 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.
Jn was threatened by Mr. Koner.
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,
Jn 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. Gapar...
- 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 Kalik, 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 Matovi, Leader of the Opposition.
As we stand here we ask -
the Police President, Tibor Gapar,
and Minister of Interior, Robert Kalik -
to immediately resign.
These people are in
a conflict of interest -
because Jn 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 Jn Kuciak wrote about.
Tibor Gapar and Robert Kalik
turned a blind eye -
and covered for Robert Fico.
Jn Kuciak wrote about it.
Did the police's job -
and paid with his life
alongside his fiance.
At the time of Jn's
murder, the investigation Jn
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
Jn'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. imeka, 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.
Gapar 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 Gapar, 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,
Marin Koner was brought into court
for one of the frauds exposed by Jno.
Mr. Koner,
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 Koner realized
something had changed.
There is no connection to the
murder, but Koner was taken
into pre-trial detention
for the financial fraud.
We ask you to commemorate Jn
and Martina with one minute of silence.
With the police
president gone and Koner in jail,
I think Slovaks started
to trust the investigators
and the investigation into the
murder of Jno 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!
Tom Szab, the driver.
Tom Szab is a former
police investigator.
And because Tom Szab needed
someone to commit the crime
with him, he asked his
cousin, Miroslav Marek.
Miroslav Marek 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 Jno and Martina.
This is the room
Jn and I shared growing up.
Jozef Kuciak, Jn'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 Jn'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 Jn 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 Kunrov
after the murder in May, 2018.
Daniel Lipic,
Lawyer representing Jn's family
I remember, after meeting the parents
and the siblings of Jn 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 Zoltn Andrusk.
Zoltn Andrusk
was pizzeria owner.
And he knew Szab and
Marek and approached them
with this offer to murder Jn 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 Zsuzsov,
who was detained 24 hours after him.
Because he was hired by Alena Zsuzsov
to actually take the deal.
She was a mystery.
Really long black hair.
And she was kind of hiding.
Alena Zsuzsov connects
us to Marin Koner.
She got this request for murder
of Jn Kuciak from Marin Koner.
None of the other
defendants had any motive.
The only person that had a
motive was Marin Koner.
And the motive was that Jn
Kuciak wrote extensively
about his economic criminal activity.
I started watching their communication
at a press conference made by Mr Koner.
I think sometime in 2017.
Jn Kuciak, Aktuality.
I want to follow up...
And there I saw that Jn Kuciak
asked questions that completely pushed -
figuratively speaking, Koner into the
corner, he could not answer his questions.
I saw that Jn Kuciak had secured
information about his possible VAT fraud.
And that irritated him.
And could have been the reason -
why Marin Koner 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.
Koner hated Jn Kuciak.
He had to hate him because
Jn was the only real enemy
of Koner'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 Koner.
And, you know, he...
After the call with Koner,
when Koner was threatening
him, he called me.
And we just made fun
of it, you know, like,
"he's going
to collect dirt on you,
that's impossible."
I should've probably evaluated it better.
Koner, 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 Tth.
He was Koner's confidant
and kind of right-hand man
for many kinds of dirty
jobs for many years.
Peter Tth,
Former Information Service Officer
Peter Tth said he started to
believe Koner was involved
in the murder after the arrest of Zsuzsov
and he wanted to come clean.
So what Tth did was he packed a car
with the evidence Koner
wanted him to keep safe
and he brought it to the police,
including two of Koner's iPhones.
This led police to search Koner'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 Marin Koner with
ordering the murder of Jn.
Marek Para, Marin Koner's defense lawyer.
May I have sunglasses?
Yeah.
It's OK?
Everybody has enough space?
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. Koner.
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 Marin Koner 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, "Koner's Library."
Koner's Library is
basically this small room.
Jlia Zelenkov. 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 Marek,
which is the shooter.
Tom Szab, which was the driver.
And we have Zolton Andrusk,
which was the middleman, basically.
Peter Sabo. Journalist, Aktuality. sk.
And, yeah, we have also Alena Zsuzsov.
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 Marin Koner,
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 Marin Koner
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 Kunrov 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 Jn Kuciak.
Marek was the hit man.
He made a guilty plea at
the start of the trial.
Then Zoltn Andrusk, 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:
Marin Koner, Alena Zsuzsov
and Tom 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. Koner 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. Koner.
Koner's Library.
And it's not just
Koner who is interesting,
but also his honey-trapper,
Alena Zsuzsov.
Alena Zsuzsov is probably
most renowned for her role
of being a honey trap collecting
kompromat for Marin Koner.
Hi, tiger.
Teach me, tiger, how to kiss you.
Alena Zsuzsov
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.
Help me, tiger,
I don't know what to do.
So Alena Zsuzsov 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 Marin Koner.
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 Marin Koner 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.
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 Zsuzsov was a person
who had a very long
relationship with Marin Koner.
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 Marin Koner 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. Andrusk
is still at the toilet.
Come in.
Mr. Andrusk, you sit here.
- Good afternoon.
- Your lawyer will be next to you.
The first question is for Mr. Andrusk.
Do you know the accused?
Yes, I do.
I've known her for eight or nine years.
We met on the Internet.
Mrs. Zsuzsov, do you know the accused?
Yes, I do.
When and how did you get
the order to murder Jn Kuciak?
I got the order from Mrs. Zsuzsov
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. Andrusk 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. Andrusk those photos,
but it definitely wasn't me.
Laughing won't help you.
Mr. Andrusk,
the next question is for you.
- Were you told who ordered it?
- Yes, I was.
Mrs. Zsuzsov told me explicitly
it was for Mr. Koner...
- "Mrs. Alena Zsuzsov told me..."
- Koner's money...
"it would be for Mr. Koner
and it was Koner's money."
And that it should
be carried out for him.
Mr. Koner has not ordered
any murder from me.
Not the murder of Mr. Kuciak,
or anybody else.
I want to ask Mr. Andrusk...
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 Koner.
But it would harm Koner.
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 Zoltn Andrusk,
because Zoltn Andrusk testified
that Alena Zsuzsov told him
that the murder is being committed
on the order of Marin Koner.
He testified right after the arrest
that the day after the murder
he came to see Alena Zsuzsov
in the morning to tell her
that the murder was committed.
And then she went for the
money to Marin Koner.
Later in the day he came back again
and he got the first 50,000
euros from Alena Zsuzsov.
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
Zoltn Andrusk's testimony.
The mobile phones were on
the same place of Andrusk
and Zsuzsov in the morning,
then Zsuzsov and Koner in the afternoon,
then Andrusk and Zsuzsov 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. Koner and she
gave it to Andrusk."
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. Koner.
One of the key pieces of
the evidence is Threema.
Threema is a mobile app for
encrypted communication.
And within the conversation
with Alena Zsuzsov,
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 Jn Kuciak
and Martina Kunrov 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. Zsuzsov -
used a profane expression
when she alerted Mr. Koner that -
something was wrong.
And we're fucked.
In addition to the journalist,
Martina Kunrov was also murdered.
What?
Crucial is the reaction of Mr. Koner -
Did the snow melt?
He asked her, "Did the snow melt?"
Right after that, Mrs. Zsuzsov reacted:
1 fell out for real now.
"One fell out for real now."
In my opinion, it means that -
she announced
Jn's murder to Mr. Koner.
50... SOON Skull & Bones.
This is a text message
that Koner is sending
to Zsuzsov 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 Andrusk 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.
Koner'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 Marin Koner.
And actually "Belly" was the
nickname of Marin Koner.
For a long time we were
wondering why Marin Koner
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 Marin Koner.
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
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
Marin Koner 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 Marin Koner, he
basically gave him information
about ongoing cases and other judges.
For example, here the
judge is asking Koner
how he should rule.
So judge Sklenka has problem
to write the verdicts, basically.
So he was asking many
times for help from Koner.
And Koner's lawyers
were actually sometimes
even writing the verdicts for him.
So Koner was something like
a manager of these verdicts.
That's how it works.
One of the most important people
for Marin Koner was State Secretary
and former judge Monika Jankovsk.
He called her "My monkey"
and he exchanged more than...
More than 6,000 messages
with Monika Jankovsk.
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 Marin Koner.
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 Bdr.
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 Koner 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. Bdr.
Bdr was giving information to Koner
from police databases.
When Koner requested
a certain information
from a database, he got it from Bdr.
When he needs to know the
name of a police officer
who investigates any case, he asks Bdr.
Incoming InApp
CallHANGUP1dffe4bc41c4df2
Find out who is investigating and who is the prosecutor
over THAT thing pirko made Varga sign under.
If he needs to change the result, he asks.
Here is Koner asking Bdr
to ask the police investigator
to take medical leave
so he can postpone Koner's investigation
for another two weeks.
If Marin Koner 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.
Koner is asking Norbert
Bdr 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
Marin Koner 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 Marin Koner and Norbert Bdr,
we know that he had a direct
link with Tibor Gapar.
We know that Norbert
Bdr 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
Jn'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
Jn 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 Koner got Jn's address
from the head of police, Tibor Gapar.
And I am sure that Gapar
gave this address to Bdr
and Bdr to Koner.
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.
Jn Kuciak, Velk Maa 558, Galanta.
The video is done by someone
who was surveilling Jn.
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 Jno.
Those pictures and those
surveillance reports were found
on a USB stick in the safe
of Marin Koner's house.
And of course we also know
that Andrusk had identified the photos
from the surveillance of Jn Kuciak
that Alena Zsuzsov showed
him on a laptop in the car.
And these pictures were
identical to the pictures found
in Marin Koner's house
during the house search.
So it linked the
surveillance to the murder
and to Marin Koner.
I think this is, for me,
this is really strong evidence.
- Everybody wanted Mr.
- Koner 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. Marek, 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. Koner.
"I wouldn't have recognized him from
this photo." Is that right?
Yes.
I believe Slovak society
is absolutely convinced
that Marin Koner 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% Koner 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 Marin Koner,
born May 17, 1963 -
and Alena Zsuzsov,
born June 13, 1974.
According to section 285,
subsection (c) of the criminal code -
Not guilty.
I'm not gonna comment.
Do you think Koner and Zsuzsov
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.
Jn 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 Jn 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 Jn's murder
and the investigation
and exposing all those,
all this corruption.
After the police analyzed Koner'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 Koner's phone in handcuffs.
Judges Jankovsk, Maruniakov, Hajtov,
Cvikov. 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 Gapar, one of
the most powerful persons
in the Slovak law
enforcement is now charged
with heading an organized criminal group.
They transported Gapar to Bratislava.
He is facing several criminal charges.
The investigators say that
he was getting the orders
from a Slovak oligarch Norbert Bdr.
And Norbert Bdr 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 Matovi
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 Matovi proved
to be absolutely
incompetent in government.
And I'm afraid that the party
that created the corrupted
system and lost because
of Jno'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 Jn 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 Jno 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.
Marin Koner was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the
financial fraud unrelated to the murders of Jn and Martina.
Alena Zsuzsov 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 Marin Koner
and Alena Zsuzsov in relation to the murders of Jn 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 Koner and Zsuzsov
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 Kalik.
Former Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Attorney Marek Para
video showing Jno Kuciak,
the investigative reporter,
and next to him is his
fiance, Martina Kunrov.
Someone was following
their daily routines,
especially focused on Jno.
And few months after this
surveillance was done,
Jno 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 Jn'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 Holcov, Investigative Journalist
and the judges and the police,
there are corrupted people.
Supreme Court, Constitutional
Court, courts in general,
Michal Vaeka, 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 Jn Kuciak
and Martina Kunrov
was the breaking point,
when we realized, "Okay, now
they are ready even to kill."
I believe 100% Marin
Koner ordered the murder
of Jno 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 Kuciakov,
Jn'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 Kunirov, Martina's Mother.
"You write about bad people
and I'm worried about you," I told Jn.
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.
Jn was working on a lot
of topics, including Koner,
Mr. Bdr, Slovak oligarchs,
Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Jn 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 Marin Koner.
Thank you. Next question.
Jan Kuciak, Aktuality.sk.
I want to follow up...
Marin Koner was involved
in every political scandal
in Slovakia of last 20 years.
From the end of the '90s,
Mr. Koner 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 Koner sticked to his habits.
Mrs. Tdov, this is my press conference -
and I will talk about what I want.
This is not a conspiracy, Mrs Tdov...
Good morning, Mr. Koner!
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 Tdov. 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. Koner built some kind
of a career on VAT frauds.
And he was, for a really
long time, untouchable.
The last time I saw Jno
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 Brdy.
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 Juhs, 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 Jn Kuciak.
Jn Kuciak's body
was located in the basement -
situated on the stairs to the cellar.
The body was in a crouched position.
Jn Kuciak was facing the stairs.
There were gunshot wounds to his chest.
As for the deceased Martina Kunrov,
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 Kunrov
was looking at wedding dresses.
It was Monday, 6:30, about 6:30,
and my deputy called
me that in the village
of Vek Maa the police found
two bodies of killed people.
And Prime Minister of
Internal Affairs, Mr. Kalik,
called me and he said that Jn
and his fiance were killed, so...
You know.
I think we all do feel responsible
that we could do more to protect him.
Tibor Gapar, 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.
Mr. Gapar, you said
you would do everything to solve it.
Why didn't the police do
everything they could to prevent it?
Jn 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 Jn 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.
Jn was threatened by Mr. Koner.
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,
Jn 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. Gapar...
- 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 Kalik, 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 Matovi, Leader of the Opposition.
As we stand here we ask -
the Police President, Tibor Gapar,
and Minister of Interior, Robert Kalik -
to immediately resign.
These people are in
a conflict of interest -
because Jn 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 Jn Kuciak wrote about.
Tibor Gapar and Robert Kalik
turned a blind eye -
and covered for Robert Fico.
Jn Kuciak wrote about it.
Did the police's job -
and paid with his life
alongside his fiance.
At the time of Jn's
murder, the investigation Jn
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
Jn'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. imeka, 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.
Gapar 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 Gapar, 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,
Marin Koner was brought into court
for one of the frauds exposed by Jno.
Mr. Koner,
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 Koner realized
something had changed.
There is no connection to the
murder, but Koner was taken
into pre-trial detention
for the financial fraud.
We ask you to commemorate Jn
and Martina with one minute of silence.
With the police
president gone and Koner in jail,
I think Slovaks started
to trust the investigators
and the investigation into the
murder of Jno 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!
Tom Szab, the driver.
Tom Szab is a former
police investigator.
And because Tom Szab needed
someone to commit the crime
with him, he asked his
cousin, Miroslav Marek.
Miroslav Marek 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 Jno and Martina.
This is the room
Jn and I shared growing up.
Jozef Kuciak, Jn'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 Jn'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 Jn 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 Kunrov
after the murder in May, 2018.
Daniel Lipic,
Lawyer representing Jn's family
I remember, after meeting the parents
and the siblings of Jn 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 Zoltn Andrusk.
Zoltn Andrusk
was pizzeria owner.
And he knew Szab and
Marek and approached them
with this offer to murder Jn 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 Zsuzsov,
who was detained 24 hours after him.
Because he was hired by Alena Zsuzsov
to actually take the deal.
She was a mystery.
Really long black hair.
And she was kind of hiding.
Alena Zsuzsov connects
us to Marin Koner.
She got this request for murder
of Jn Kuciak from Marin Koner.
None of the other
defendants had any motive.
The only person that had a
motive was Marin Koner.
And the motive was that Jn
Kuciak wrote extensively
about his economic criminal activity.
I started watching their communication
at a press conference made by Mr Koner.
I think sometime in 2017.
Jn Kuciak, Aktuality.
I want to follow up...
And there I saw that Jn Kuciak
asked questions that completely pushed -
figuratively speaking, Koner into the
corner, he could not answer his questions.
I saw that Jn Kuciak had secured
information about his possible VAT fraud.
And that irritated him.
And could have been the reason -
why Marin Koner 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.
Koner hated Jn Kuciak.
He had to hate him because
Jn was the only real enemy
of Koner'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 Koner.
And, you know, he...
After the call with Koner,
when Koner was threatening
him, he called me.
And we just made fun
of it, you know, like,
"he's going
to collect dirt on you,
that's impossible."
I should've probably evaluated it better.
Koner, 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 Tth.
He was Koner's confidant
and kind of right-hand man
for many kinds of dirty
jobs for many years.
Peter Tth,
Former Information Service Officer
Peter Tth said he started to
believe Koner was involved
in the murder after the arrest of Zsuzsov
and he wanted to come clean.
So what Tth did was he packed a car
with the evidence Koner
wanted him to keep safe
and he brought it to the police,
including two of Koner's iPhones.
This led police to search Koner'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 Marin Koner with
ordering the murder of Jn.
Marek Para, Marin Koner's defense lawyer.
May I have sunglasses?
Yeah.
It's OK?
Everybody has enough space?
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. Koner.
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 Marin Koner 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, "Koner's Library."
Koner's Library is
basically this small room.
Jlia Zelenkov. 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 Marek,
which is the shooter.
Tom Szab, which was the driver.
And we have Zolton Andrusk,
which was the middleman, basically.
Peter Sabo. Journalist, Aktuality. sk.
And, yeah, we have also Alena Zsuzsov.
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 Marin Koner,
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 Marin Koner
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 Kunrov 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 Jn Kuciak.
Marek was the hit man.
He made a guilty plea at
the start of the trial.
Then Zoltn Andrusk, 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:
Marin Koner, Alena Zsuzsov
and Tom 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. Koner 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. Koner.
Koner's Library.
And it's not just
Koner who is interesting,
but also his honey-trapper,
Alena Zsuzsov.
Alena Zsuzsov is probably
most renowned for her role
of being a honey trap collecting
kompromat for Marin Koner.
Hi, tiger.
Teach me, tiger, how to kiss you.
Alena Zsuzsov
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.
Help me, tiger,
I don't know what to do.
So Alena Zsuzsov 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 Marin Koner.
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 Marin Koner 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.
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 Zsuzsov was a person
who had a very long
relationship with Marin Koner.
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 Marin Koner 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. Andrusk
is still at the toilet.
Come in.
Mr. Andrusk, you sit here.
- Good afternoon.
- Your lawyer will be next to you.
The first question is for Mr. Andrusk.
Do you know the accused?
Yes, I do.
I've known her for eight or nine years.
We met on the Internet.
Mrs. Zsuzsov, do you know the accused?
Yes, I do.
When and how did you get
the order to murder Jn Kuciak?
I got the order from Mrs. Zsuzsov
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. Andrusk 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. Andrusk those photos,
but it definitely wasn't me.
Laughing won't help you.
Mr. Andrusk,
the next question is for you.
- Were you told who ordered it?
- Yes, I was.
Mrs. Zsuzsov told me explicitly
it was for Mr. Koner...
- "Mrs. Alena Zsuzsov told me..."
- Koner's money...
"it would be for Mr. Koner
and it was Koner's money."
And that it should
be carried out for him.
Mr. Koner has not ordered
any murder from me.
Not the murder of Mr. Kuciak,
or anybody else.
I want to ask Mr. Andrusk...
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 Koner.
But it would harm Koner.
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 Zoltn Andrusk,
because Zoltn Andrusk testified
that Alena Zsuzsov told him
that the murder is being committed
on the order of Marin Koner.
He testified right after the arrest
that the day after the murder
he came to see Alena Zsuzsov
in the morning to tell her
that the murder was committed.
And then she went for the
money to Marin Koner.
Later in the day he came back again
and he got the first 50,000
euros from Alena Zsuzsov.
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
Zoltn Andrusk's testimony.
The mobile phones were on
the same place of Andrusk
and Zsuzsov in the morning,
then Zsuzsov and Koner in the afternoon,
then Andrusk and Zsuzsov 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. Koner and she
gave it to Andrusk."
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. Koner.
One of the key pieces of
the evidence is Threema.
Threema is a mobile app for
encrypted communication.
And within the conversation
with Alena Zsuzsov,
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 Jn Kuciak
and Martina Kunrov 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. Zsuzsov -
used a profane expression
when she alerted Mr. Koner that -
something was wrong.
And we're fucked.
In addition to the journalist,
Martina Kunrov was also murdered.
What?
Crucial is the reaction of Mr. Koner -
Did the snow melt?
He asked her, "Did the snow melt?"
Right after that, Mrs. Zsuzsov reacted:
1 fell out for real now.
"One fell out for real now."
In my opinion, it means that -
she announced
Jn's murder to Mr. Koner.
50... SOON Skull & Bones.
This is a text message
that Koner is sending
to Zsuzsov 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 Andrusk 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.
Koner'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 Marin Koner.
And actually "Belly" was the
nickname of Marin Koner.
For a long time we were
wondering why Marin Koner
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 Marin Koner.
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
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
Marin Koner 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 Marin Koner, he
basically gave him information
about ongoing cases and other judges.
For example, here the
judge is asking Koner
how he should rule.
So judge Sklenka has problem
to write the verdicts, basically.
So he was asking many
times for help from Koner.
And Koner's lawyers
were actually sometimes
even writing the verdicts for him.
So Koner was something like
a manager of these verdicts.
That's how it works.
One of the most important people
for Marin Koner was State Secretary
and former judge Monika Jankovsk.
He called her "My monkey"
and he exchanged more than...
More than 6,000 messages
with Monika Jankovsk.
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 Marin Koner.
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 Bdr.
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 Koner 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. Bdr.
Bdr was giving information to Koner
from police databases.
When Koner requested
a certain information
from a database, he got it from Bdr.
When he needs to know the
name of a police officer
who investigates any case, he asks Bdr.
Incoming InApp
CallHANGUP1dffe4bc41c4df2
Find out who is investigating and who is the prosecutor
over THAT thing pirko made Varga sign under.
If he needs to change the result, he asks.
Here is Koner asking Bdr
to ask the police investigator
to take medical leave
so he can postpone Koner's investigation
for another two weeks.
If Marin Koner 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.
Koner is asking Norbert
Bdr 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
Marin Koner 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 Marin Koner and Norbert Bdr,
we know that he had a direct
link with Tibor Gapar.
We know that Norbert
Bdr 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
Jn'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
Jn 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 Koner got Jn's address
from the head of police, Tibor Gapar.
And I am sure that Gapar
gave this address to Bdr
and Bdr to Koner.
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.
Jn Kuciak, Velk Maa 558, Galanta.
The video is done by someone
who was surveilling Jn.
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 Jno.
Those pictures and those
surveillance reports were found
on a USB stick in the safe
of Marin Koner's house.
And of course we also know
that Andrusk had identified the photos
from the surveillance of Jn Kuciak
that Alena Zsuzsov showed
him on a laptop in the car.
And these pictures were
identical to the pictures found
in Marin Koner's house
during the house search.
So it linked the
surveillance to the murder
and to Marin Koner.
I think this is, for me,
this is really strong evidence.
- Everybody wanted Mr.
- Koner 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. Marek, 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. Koner.
"I wouldn't have recognized him from
this photo." Is that right?
Yes.
I believe Slovak society
is absolutely convinced
that Marin Koner 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% Koner 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 Marin Koner,
born May 17, 1963 -
and Alena Zsuzsov,
born June 13, 1974.
According to section 285,
subsection (c) of the criminal code -
Not guilty.
I'm not gonna comment.
Do you think Koner and Zsuzsov
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.
Jn 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 Jn 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 Jn's murder
and the investigation
and exposing all those,
all this corruption.
After the police analyzed Koner'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 Koner's phone in handcuffs.
Judges Jankovsk, Maruniakov, Hajtov,
Cvikov. 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 Gapar, one of
the most powerful persons
in the Slovak law
enforcement is now charged
with heading an organized criminal group.
They transported Gapar to Bratislava.
He is facing several criminal charges.
The investigators say that
he was getting the orders
from a Slovak oligarch Norbert Bdr.
And Norbert Bdr 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 Matovi
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 Matovi proved
to be absolutely
incompetent in government.
And I'm afraid that the party
that created the corrupted
system and lost because
of Jno'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 Jn 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 Jno 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.
Marin Koner was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the
financial fraud unrelated to the murders of Jn and Martina.
Alena Zsuzsov 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 Marin Koner
and Alena Zsuzsov in relation to the murders of Jn 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 Koner and Zsuzsov
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 Kalik.
Former Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Attorney Marek Para