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Journalist Killed in Slovakia in 2018 — Slovakian Democracy Still Under Threat
Yesterday, 20th of June 2023, the Slovakian pro-democratic and pro-Western President, Zuzana Čaputová, announced that she is not considering running again, despite polls showing that she is the most popular Slovakian politician.
The Slovakian President and her family have been the target of relentless smear and disinformation campaigns by the oligarch and ex-PM, Robert Fico, and his sympathizers.
Čaputová was originally elected because of the killing of the investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiance, Martina Kusnirova. The Slovakian public went to the streets to protest because of organized crime in the country, with which the PM at the time, Robert Fico, had connections.
It was a sad day for democracy in Slovakia. And it might get worse.
Let me explain.
The most pressing turning point in Slovakian political affairs, revealing the extent of poorly functioning institutions and a concerning lack of oversight, was the killing of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová in 2018. Kuciak was an investigative journalist for Aktuality.sk.
Kuciak was chiefly concerned with tax evasion and political corruption in Slovakia, leading him to focus on the Prime Minister at the time, Robert Fico, and…