Murder of Slovak reporter may have link to Albanian mafia

Slovačka, Jan Kucijak — REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa | REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa

The investigation into the murder of a Slovakian reporter and his fiancé follows a lead to the Albanian businessmen from Macedonia that reportedly have bonds to the Italian ‘Ndràngheta Mafia family, local media reported on Thursday.

The new lead followed Jan Kuciak's investigation of some shady businesses linked to several Albanian families in Slovakia.

Kuciak, 27, and hisfiancé Martina Kušnírová, were found dead in their home in February 2018.

The murders, in addition to widespread shock and disbelief throughout the country, plunged Slovakia into a political crisis.

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico officially resigned in March, less than three weeks after Kuciak’s murder.

The killing is widely presumed to be connected to articles the journalist was writing about the growing presence of the ’Ndrangheta in Slovakia and their possible influence on the government.

Seven people with suspected mafia ties were taken into custody after the killings, but they were quickly released.

“We worked with Kuciak at a dossier about the Albanian mafia,” Pavla Holcova, told Mlada Fronta Dnes daily on Wednesday.

The daily said the police had over ten versions of who could order the killing of the journalist.

Holcova added she worked with Kuciak in investigating the Ndràngheta’s businesses, their links to Slovak politicians and the schemes with the European farmers’ grants.

She went through an eight-hour police questioning and had her mobile phone forcibly taken away.

Police insisted she should give them the passwords what she refused, saying that there was some sensitive information which had nothing to do with Kucijak’s and Slovakia.

Massive rallies in Slovakia followed the murder, the first of that kind since the country peacefully left former Czechoslovakia in 1993.