- UPDATE 21-09-2021: Shortly after publication of this article, it was that the Bratislava Regional Prosecutor’s Office has annulled the criminal indictment as illegal and unfounded. IPI welcomes this vital vindication of 顿别苍苍铆办 N鈥檚 public interest reporting.
The IPI global network today condemns the criminal charges against two Slovak journalists from independent daily 顿别苍苍铆办 N involving the publication of a 2018 article related to the J谩n Kuciak murder investigation. IPI urges the authorities to immediately drop the indictment.
On September 20, it was reported that the Slovak police prosecutor鈥檚 office had filed charges against 顿别苍苍铆办 N investigative journalist Monika T贸dov谩 and Deputy Editor-in-Chief Kon拧tant铆n 膶ikovsky. The charges stem from a report published in October 2018 in which the journalists revealed that former journalist-turned-spy chief Peter T贸th had monitored several journalists at the behest of Mari谩n Ko膷ner, the alleged mastermind in the murder, including Kuciak and T贸dov谩 herself.聽聽
Police prosecutors have now accused both journalists of revealing confidential information by disclosing T贸th鈥檚 identity as a secret witness. If found guilty, they could spend up to one year in prison.
鈥淭he indictment of Monika T贸dov谩 and Kon拧tant铆n 膶ikovsk媒 is a deeply disturbing attack on press freedom in Slovakia鈥�, IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen said. 鈥淭heir reporting was accurate and clearly in the public interest. It is therefore outrageous that they are now facing criminal charges for doing their job. Moreover, the timing of this complaint, years after the article was published and just weeks before the expiration of the statutory time limit, itself raises serious questions. We call for the immediate withdrawal of this indictment as well as for a review as to why it was issued in the first place. The IPI global network stands in solidarity with 顿别苍苍铆办 N and its journalists, who, together with other leading Slovak media, have played a crucial role in ensuring that the truth about the murder of J谩n Kuciak and Martina Ku拧n铆rov谩, and the circumstances behind it, comes to light.鈥�
: IPI is deeply concerned by the criminal charges brought against journalist Kon拧tant铆n 膶ikovsk媒 & editor Monika T贸dov谩.
If found guilty, they could spend up to one year in prison. This is a worrying step backwards for
鈥� IPI-The Global Network for Independent Journalism (@globalfreemedia)
The journalists have three days to file an appeal to the indictment, 顿别苍苍铆办 N鈥檚 editor-in-chief, Mat煤拧 Kostoln媒, told IPI. 鈥淲e will definitely do so and our lawyers are already preparing the appeal.鈥� Kostoln媒 said he 鈥渟trongly believed鈥� the Bratislava prosecutor would accept the appeal and drop the charges. 鈥淲e published an article which was correct at the moment and is still correct. The case is connected to the murder of J谩n Kuciak. The people of this country have the right to know who was behind the murder and who organized it. That was the reason we published the article three years ago, and we have the same answer today.鈥�
The newspaper accurately reported in 2018 that T贸th had decided to cooperate with investigators when it became apparent that his role in illegally gathering information on journalists would be discovered. Just before publication, T贸th went public himself and commented about the case on Facebook. After publication, he filed criminal charges alleging that the journalists could have put him in danger. This was rejected at the time by the police prosecutor. This changed in September 2021 when the Bratislava Prosecutor’s Office ordered the police prosecutor to press charges.
Kostoln媒 questioned the decision by the Bratislava Prosecutor’s Office, which his newspaper has reported on critically in recent months, to order an indictment three years after the allegation was first made. 鈥淚 would not be surprised if this was a punishment for our critical reporting鈥�, he said.
Kostoln媒 told IPI that the journalists received a high level of solidarity from fellow journalists and politicians. 鈥淭he prime minister talked about it, and the minister of culture, who is responsible for the media, expressed her concerns.鈥� The Slovak general prosecutor furthermore urged the Bratislava Prosecutor鈥檚 Office to review the case.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 do anything wrong and our colleagues understand this. We only want to report freely鈥�, Kostoln媒 said. 鈥淚 believe that justice will be done. None of us believes that it might end up putting them in jail for a year. It is clearly a stupid case and even in Slovakia, there are normal judges, prosecutors and pollice officers, who will not allow putting my colleagues under arrest.鈥�
The Slovak government is currently working on an updated media law to strengthen journalistic safeguards and the protection of sources, among other changes. 鈥淭he biggest problem for Slovak media is however not legislation, but the hate speech public figures express towards journalists鈥�, Kostoln媒 said. 鈥淲e all know the result of this, as we have seen by the killing of J谩n Kuciak three years ago.鈥� He continued: 鈥淪uch violence starts when public figures frame journalists as enemies of this country, as if we are the reason for all problems. This cannot be solved by a law alone.鈥澛�
This statement by IPI is part of the聽聽(MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries.
