“Shocking decision. Slovakia is shocked. This decision in a highly watched case caused a storm of hatred in Slovakia,” wrote Slovakia’s most widely read newspaper New time by the court ruling that acquitted businessman Marian Kočner and his girlfriend Alena Zsuzsová.

News Truth then, like many other journalists, they pointed out that even though Slovaks may not like the Criminal Chamber’s verdict, the court still found guilty. “It’s no wonder that the parents of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová were devastated by this verdict and the public was shocked. For months we believed that Kočner was the customer, and it was only a matter of time before the court confirmed it,” they said.

Truth he also mentioned the specific fact that the court believed the testimony of the convicted person Zoltán Andrusk against the convicted person Tomáš Szabó, but at the same time did not take into account his testimony against Zsuzsová. According to the newspaper, there may still be doubts whether the series of evidence and indications is not sufficient for a verdict.

“Public trust in the power of the judiciary has eroded to such an extent that the public will be fighting the acquittal for Kočner for a very long time. And because of that the court must explain with great care,” the newspaper wrote. Wewho printed a photo of Kuciak and Kušnírová’s parents on the front page with the caption “They Still Awaiting Justice”.

Sword N’s diary argued that “there is more to this case than just two heinous murders.” “At stake is whether you can trust justice in Slovakia,” he wrote, adding that “the acquittal of Marian Kočner and Alena Zsuzsová is a wound that will be very difficult to heal.” He describes the incomprehensible fact that the court adopted the murder version in all respects, as the prosecutor’s office wrote, but with one exception – acquitting Kočner and Zsuzsová.

According to the sheet Plus one day the most common reaction after the court’s verdict in the murder of two young people was shock, dismay, but also words about the lack of direct evidence.

Daily Economic Newspaper (HN) in turn, he described the disappointment, dismay, and anger the ruling generated as understandable. According to the letter, however, judges cannot be criticized if they apply the principle that in case of doubt they should decide in favor of the accused.

Only death and taxes are certain. Commenters disagree

Slovak commentators didn’t quite agree with the whole issue. In the diary We for example, Peter Schutz explains that “the amendment regarding one hundred percent certainty that a judge must have because otherwise ‘doubt in favor of the accused’ is (…) fiction.”

“One hundred percent certainty, as they say, only death (and taxes),” wrote Schutz, according to which the version of murder without a mastermind was irrational and absurd. He believed that the judges had improperly examined the entire array of circumstantial evidence and refused to interpret the nonsense hidden in Kočner’s electronic communications.

“It’s one thing to be ‘in dubio pro reo’, and to speculate and concoct whether the seven overlapping facts have some alternative explanation on the border between absolute coincidence and miracle,” the commenter added.

Juraj Javorský in annotated overview N’s diary he later argued that “judge opinion prevailed over logic” and that “justice must await”. “The judges were probably afraid to believe even the most obvious connection that resulted from the defendants’ communications,” he thought.

However, Jakub Filo of Sme warns that Slovaks, despite the undeniable disappointment and disillusionment, must maintain basic faith in their legal system, “otherwise we will have to question even the decisions we approve of”.

Likewise Štefan Hríb on the portal sunday.sk pointed out that “everyone, even a mass murderer, has the right in a free society to be tried not by the public, but by courts”. “Sometimes, especially when courts cannot be trusted, this may seem like a hindrance to justice, but it is actually one of the signs of civilization. We journalists, or the public, or politicians cannot and must not send Kočner and Zsuzsová behind bars, only to court. So we agreed in November,” he wrote.

“We can think anything about the judges and their motivations, but we can’t blame them for applying the principle ‘in dubio pro reo’ – when in doubt, support the accused,” Martin Behul of HN.

“A blow to the family, Slovakia is a mafia country”

The news about Kočner’s release also became a topic of conversation in the world’s media. The portal informs it, for example Politicaldiary The New York TimesDutch newspaper De Volkskrant or Qatar TV Al Jazeera. Station BBC he also carried a quote from the accused. “I’m not a saint, but I’m not a killer either. I’m certainly not so crazy that I don’t realize what the killing of a journalist has caused,” Kočner told court.

French daily Le Monde wrote about the shock that judges in Slovakia caused with their ortel, and about the black covering of Prime Minister Igor Matovič’s Facebook profile picture. The news also reached the Italian media regarding the ties of the Italian mafia in Slovakia, which the murdered Kuciak also wrote about.

German station reporter Deutsche Welle he described the court’s decision as a “huge blow to the families of the victims and those who hoped for change in Slovakia”. Sword Die Welt later he wrote that it was a humiliating judgment.

“The shock was great and the knowledge clear: Slovakia is also a mafia nation. Welcome to the club,” Die Welt reported. The newspaper compared the Kuciak case to the murder of three-year-old Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who wrote about corruption in Malta. The woman’s son calls Malta a mafia state. According to Die Welt, the same designation now also belongs to Slovakia.

Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová objected to this label on Friday.

“Kočner stood above the law for decades, and now it seems that it is over,” the newspaper reported, referring to statements by the killer, who confessed, and Kočner’s electronic communications. “Honest people in Slovakia have celebrated after Kočner’s faith, to another people who were hitherto untouched in politics and economics,” added Die Welt.

The world press organization was outraged by the verdict. they react Unlimited Journalistswhich he said was a “failure of Slovak justice” on Thursday, or International Press Institute (IPI) domiciled in Vienna. IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen told Sme he’s seen a repeating pattern in decisions he’s observed in similar cases of killing journalists around the world.

“The killers are usually punished, whereas the people ultimately responsible for killing journalists remain at large.”