Bratislava: Murdered Journalist and His Fiancee Commemorated by Thousands

Bratislava, March 23 (TASR) – Thousands of people gathered in Bratislava on Friday to commemorate murdered journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova at a protest march organised by university students.

The student march has become the main protest event following the abortion of ‘For Decent Slovakia’ gathering.

The crowd formed at Safarikovo Namestie, from where it walked to SNP Square to light candles in memory of the murdered young couple and sign Slovak anthem.

At the end of the event, the protesters chanted “election!” and dispersed only after repeated calls by the organisers. More than 1,000 people subsequently set out to the empty Parliament building, where lawmakers already concluded the session at 4 p.m. Waving flags and holding banners, the crowd shouted calls for early election and rattled their keys [a reference to the 1989 Velvet Revolution -ed.note].

No disturbances of public order occurred and the crowd began to slowly disperse after 6 p.m.

The student march was organised by #niejenamtojedno initiative (#wedocare). “We have no demands and there was no political dimension to this,” said one of the organisers Timotej Lauko. “We feel that students should be here and should actively participate. When some injustice is occurring, they should draw attention to it,” said Lauko.

Similar protests were held on the same day also in other cities and towns in Slovakia.