The academic community of Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica hereby expresses sincere condolences to the families of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová, the victims of a crime that has recently shocked our society and revealed the absence of respect for human life.

Honour, courage and freedom to seek the truth are considered the basic pillars of academic and journalistic work. This horrific act has therefore truly appalled us. We feel solidarity with the journalist community, all the more realizing that our mission is to lead the way towards critical thinking, civic engagement and democratic values.

We urge the competent authorities to thoroughly investigate the double murder as soon as possible to determine criminal liability; if the state and public administration are proven to be connected with the crime, we also urge the authorities to determine political responsibility.

Banská Bystrica, 3 March 2018