Slovakia

A businessman held since June on suspicion of fraud was close to one of the murder suspects arrested in September; he had also threatened Kuciak previously.

The unnamed suspects were among eight people arrested in a police raid on 27 September. This is the first significant development in the investigation since the murder of Kuciak and his fiancee in February.

Kuciak, a journalist who investigated high-level corruption, was murdered at home alongside his fiancée in February. Officials have yet to confirm the motive or identify the murderers.

The problem isn’t the investigators, says Kuciak’s editor, but the people at the top.

Lukáš Milan was handed a three year suspended prison sentence and banned from practising journalism for an article on alleged corruption.

The young investigative journalist was known for his stories on tax fraud and shady real estate deals involving several Slovak businessmen with close connections to the ruling party.

A Slovak court’s decision ordering a tabloid to apologise to a judge for its reporting on a private party where attendees allegedly made light of a mass murder sets a dangerous precedent, the International Press Institute and its Slovak National Committee recently said.

A draft budget currently before Parliament would cut overall funding for the Slovak Council for Broadcasting and Retransmission (RVR) while more than doubling the yearly revenue it is expected to collect.

Slovak authorities should stop pressuring a Slovak journalist to divulge his source for reports on wiretapped conversations between alleged organised crime figures and senior police officials, the International Press Institute (IPI) and its affiliate, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), say.

Recent moves by members of Slovakia’s judiciary are creating growing pressure that threatens press freedom in the country, the Slovak Committee of the International Press Institute says.

Current and former members of Slovakia’s judiciary are seeking €940,000 from a tabloid that published photographs and video from a 2010 party that appeared to depict acts making light of a mass murder.

A group of MPs have filed a complaint challenging the constitutionality of Slovakia’s mandatory data retention law, which compels ISPs to monitor citizens’ communications.

IPI Concerned by Attempts to Remove Head of Slovakia’s Public Broadcaster Joins Calls for Greater Respect of RTVS Independence VIENNA, June 19, 2012 – The International Press Institute (IPI) and its affiliate, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), today expressed concern at apparent attempts by members of Slovakia’s ruling SMER-SD party to dismiss the […]

Slovakian courts violated a publisher’s rights by ordering it to issue a correction and pay compensation over reports of a police official’s alleged drunken behaviour, the ECHR ruled.

IPI encourages the government to respect the role of independent, critical media.

A Slovak government agency should immediately drop a civil complaint against the daily SME that was filed when the newspaper refused to print a response to a column under a controversial right-of-reply law, IPI said.