After the surprise acquittal of the alleged mastermind in the 2018 murder of Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, what are the next steps in the fight for justice?

The International Press Institute (IPI) launches today its new podcast series on global press freedom developments, “The Press Freedom Files”. The series’s first episode focuses on the aftermath of the Kuciak verdict on September 3.

Guests Beata Balogová, editor-in-chief of the leading Slovak daily SME, and Pavla Holcová of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) join IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen, who observed the trial proceedings, to analyse the impact of the court’s decision, public trust in the Slovak justice system and whether impunity in the case can be prevented.

“I don’t think society will accept a situation in which the mastermind of the Kuciak murder escapes punishment”, Balogová says.

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This episode of the The Press Freedom Files was produced and prepared by the International Press Institute (IPI) as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries. The project is co-funded by the European Commission.