The latest developments in the investigation of the murder of Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend, Martina Kusnirova, point to Hungary, from where it seems that the weapon used in the crime originated, says the Hungarian news outlet HVG.hu which cites a “European police report”.
The weapon, which according to the Slovak police was a 9-millimeter pistol, could have been sold to the killers by a Hungarian citizen, the newspaper said.
This man, resident in the Hungarian town of Zebegény, north of Budapest, and identified with the initials KL, was arrested last Thursday.
“Different telecommunication data also indicate that the Hungarian was related to the murder”, adds HVG, according to the document to which it had access.
At the request of the Slovak authorities, it adds, the Hungarian police have registered several buildings in the country related to KL, where they seized several computers and mobile phones.
The man was arrested along with another person, in the town of Kecskemét, 100 kilometers south of Budapest, According to the Slovak authorities he had telephone contact with one of the alleged killers.
However, the two Hungarian suspects were released after being interrogated “for many hours”, in accordance with Hungarian law, since no official accusation has been opened against them.
A court in Slovakia decided on September 30 to hold four people in custody for their alleged involvement in the murder of the journalist.
The Czech newspaper “Pravda” states that it was those detainees who implicated the Hungarian suspects while they were being interrogated. Europol also confirmed that the existence of recorded telephone communication pointing to their possible involvement.
The Slovak authorities have confirmed that Kuciak and Kusnirova were the victims of a contract killing and that that the crime had to do with the Kuciak’s work as an investigative reporter.
In his last article, Kuciak referred to possible tax crimes of businessman Marian Kocner, who was arrested last June on charges of fraud.
Kuciak was also investigating a complex Slovak network of the ‘Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, with links to two advisers to the then prime minister, Robert Fico.
The journalist and his girlfriend, both 27, were found shot dead on February 25 at their home near Bratislava.
