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Businessman Marián Kočner: preliminary acquittal in the murder case of Ján Kuciak - but final conviction for white-collar crime
Photo: Petr David Josek / AP
For the relatives and friends of the murdered Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak, it should be at least a small consolation: After the businessman Marián Kočner was initially acquitted as the alleged client behind the murder in September, he now has to go to prison for another offense.
Both Kočner and former Minister of Economic Affairs Pavol Rusko have been imprisoned for 19 years for fraud involving millions.
That was decided by the Supreme Court in Bratislava, as court spokeswoman Alexandra Vazanova confirmed to the dpa news agency.
The judges rejected an appeal by the two prominent defendants against the judgment of a special court.
Largest economic process in the history of Slovakia
The largest case of white-collar crime ever closed by the Slovak judiciary concerned the forgery of promissory notes worth almost 70 million euros at the expense of TV Markiza.
Rusko had founded the station in 1996, but had to sell his shares when he began a political career.
When he later got into financial difficulties, after the indictment now recognized by the court, he agreed with the millionaire Kočner on the forgery of the promissory notes in his favor.
more on the subject
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Kočner was acquitted in September 2020 for lack of evidence of the charge of commissioning the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak.
However, this judgment is not yet final because the public prosecutor appealed against it.
After the preliminary acquittal, the former state secretary Monika Jankovska confessed to influencing several court proceedings for Kočner.
Jankovska has been in custody since last March and testified at her own request.
Kuciak had reported numerous cases of Kočner fraud.
That's why he had him killed, was the charge in the pending murder trial.
The murder of Kuciak and his fiancée in February 2018 sparked mass demonstrations against corruption and led to the overthrow of the government.
The killer of the two was sentenced to 23 years in prison last April.
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fek / dpa / AP
