Position of the Association of European Journalists (AEJ), Slovak Section, to the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée
The Slovak Section of the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) is
strongly perturbed by the cold-blooded murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and
his fiancée. This heinous crime was committed while he was pursuing
investigative work to expose crimes of persons linked not only to the
underworld, but also to the political elite of the country. The AEJ,
Slovak Section, demands that the Slovak police authorities fully and
thoroughly investigate these murders and bring the perpetrators to justice
before the courts.
In our perception, this murder was an attack on the basic principle of a
lawful democratic state, on freedom of speech and the press, one of the
constitutional rights of Slovak citizens. This is clearly also a dire
consequence of the systematic long-term aggressive verbal attacks on
journalists by various leading state representatives. At the same time, we
are asking precisely how Slovakia protects those who put themselves at
risk when uncovering antisocial activities?
We are obliged to recall also another two Slovak journalists who vanished
and are still missing – reporter Palo Rýpal since 2008 and economic
journalist Miroslav Pejko since 2015. They were both also active in the
media in investigative journalism. We urgently request that the criminal
authorities inform the public about the current status of investigations
into these murders, and also progress made in the search for the missing
journalists.
Tibor Macák, Secretary General AEJ Int.,
Juraj Alner, Founder AEJ, Slovak section and Honorary Sec. Gen. AEJ Int.
Július Lőrincz, former head of AEJ, Slovak section,
Ivan Brada, member of AEJ, Slovak section, Investigative journalist,
John Boyd, member of AEJ Slovak section.
Bratislava, 26.2.2018
