Slovak Police President Tibor Gaspar speaks during a press conference to give the latest information on the police investigations following the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend Martina Kusinrova, on March 1, 2018 in Kosice, eastern Slova
PRAGUE: Slovak police detained seven people on Thursday in an investigation into the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak, police president Tibor Gaspar said.
The murder was the first of a journalist in Slovakia and prompted demands from Prime Minister Robert Fico's coalition partners for the resignation of senior officials, which throws the stability of his cabinet into doubt.
Police raided seven locations in eastern Slovakia, Gaspar said on TA3 television. He identified the detainees by their first names and initials and some of these appeared to match names of Italian businesspeople who were the focus of Kuciak's final report.
"They have been detained with the prosecutor's agreement as suspects," Gaspar said.
Gaspar said in an earlier televised appearance the raids were connected with Italian businessmen who Kuciak said in his last article were linked to the Italian mafia. The article was published posthumously.
Gaspar said further proceedings with regard to the detained people would be based on evaluation of information gathered.
Gaspar said one of the detainees was Antonino V.
According to the Slovak business registry, Italian businessman Antonino Vadala briefly owned a firm with Maria Troskova, an aide to Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Troskova and the secretary of the country's Security Council, also mentioned in Kuciak's reporting, resigned on Wednesday pending results of the investigation. Both Troskova and the secretary have denied any wrongdoing.
The case led to fresh anger in the media over links between businessmen and top politicians, a frequent subject of Kuciak's reporting.
Opposition parties held a protest rally over Kuciak's killing in Bratislava on Wednesday afternoon and another protest is scheduled in several cities for Friday.
Kuciak's reporting also looked at possible abuse of EU funds. The European Commission said on Thursday it had requested information from Slovak authorities.
The case raised tension within the ruling three-party coalition. Some people in the junior Most-Hid party said Interior Minister Robert Kalinak should resign and they were considering pulling out of the government, Slovak media said.
Coalition leaders including Fico met over the issue on Thursday. Leaders of Most-Hid also met later. The collapse of the three-party coalition could trigger an election.
Fico also suffered a blow when Culture Minister Marek Madaric, a long-time senior member of Fico's Smer party, quit on Wednesday.
Kuciak's report did not suggest any wrongdoing by either of the two Fico aides who resigned. In a statement, both denied any involvement in the killing.
Kuciak's murder was the first of a journalist in Slovakia and the fifth such case concerning a reporter or reporters in the European Union in the past decade, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). (Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Jason Hovet Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)
