The head of Slovakia's Catholic Church has condemned the suspected mafia killing of an investigative journalist as an attack on freedom and democracy, and urged his country's Christians to stand together against "corruption, hatred, lies and fraud".
"We've asked many questions and received few answers, and we're dismayed at what has happened", said Archbishop Stanislav Zvolensky of Bratislava, the Bishops Conference president. "But if the murderer thought he was silencing people, he did the opposite. The great outrage over these deaths has brought people across Slovakia together and maximised the victims' voice".
The Church leader was preaching at last weekend's funeral of Jan Kuciak, who was shot dead at his home in the Slovak capital on 25 February with his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, while investigating alleged mafia links to the centre-left government of premier Robert Fico. He said the whole of the Catholic Church had been "left in pain" by the double murder, but would also demand justice for the perpetrators and offer the reassurance that "the victory of evil is never final".
"An attack on a journalist is an attack of freedom and democracy, since journalists have a duty and noble privilege to act as guardians of these things", Archbishop Zvolensky said. "But freedom can only give effective protection to those who are truly free. This is why we must come together to ensure evil, corruption, hatred, murder, lies and fraud are decisively rejected".
The murder of 27-year-old Kuciak, which police said bore the hallmarks of a contract killing, sparked nationwide protests and highlighted fears that organised crime gangs could be using the country, a NATO and European Union member, as a base for operations.
The article the journalist was close to completing was published last week by several news outlets, and was accompanied by the detention of seven suspects, all of whom were freed for lack of evidence. Last week, the prime minister’s chief state adviser and a member of the state security council both resigned, amid allegations about their connections to an Italian businessman who was one of those questioned. In a joint statement, the two officials denied any wrongdoing and said they were stepping down so their names could not be used in any political fight against Mr Fico.
Speaking at the funeral of Kusnirova, who was buried in the dress for her wedding, at her home village of Velka Maca, Bishop Marek Forgac, a Kosice auxiliary, described the double killing as a "re-crucifixion of Jesus", warning that some people appeared ready "to use the gift of freedom to inflict evil and harm" in pursuit of "a table full of banknotes".
"Whoever can destroy a young human life is a devil, a personification of evil. But evil can also be institutionalised, done by groups and institutions", Bishop Forgac told mourners. "If there are leaders in our society who - through activities, friendships, contacts, activity and inactivity - create a climate for this impersonalised evil, they must bear responsibility for what has happened here".
The Catholic Church traditionally makes up around two-thirds of Slovakia's population of 5.4 million, and has clashed previously with the Fico government over state funding for abortion and sex education, as well as plans for same-sex marriages. In 2010, Church leaders condemned government-backed plans by the Nevada-based Harrah's Entertainment Inc to build Europe's largest mega-casino complex at Petrzalka, near the border with Austria.
However, a weekend call by Slovakia's president, Andrej Kiska, for a "radical restructuring" of the government to rebuild public trust after the murder was dismissed by premier Fico, who said priority should be to investigate the killings rather than "dancing on the graves" of the victims.
PICTURE: Thousands of people gathered in the centre of Bratislava, Slovakia, March 2, 2018 to pay respect to investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova who were shot dead last week ©PA
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