A Slovak court has cleared a businessman for the second time of orchestrating the 2018 murder of an investigative journalist, in a case that had shaken the country and triggered mass protests against corruption.
Marian Kocner was alleged to have ordered the killings of Jan Kuciak, 27, and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, a crime over which four other people, including Mr Kocner's associate Alena Zsuzsova, have been sentenced.
Mr Kocner, 60, has repeatedly pleaded not guilty, and said in closing remarks in the trial last week: "I am not a saint but I am not a murderer."
But journalists at the trial reported that the victims' families walked out of the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinokin protest after the judge cleared Mr Kocner.
The court had reached the same verdict in 2020, citing a lack of evidence, but the Supreme Court ordered a retrial.
The new verdict can again be appealed.
Mr Kuciak and Ms Kusnirova's deaths sparked mass protests in the European Union country that forced long-time leader Robert Fico to step down as prime minister, ushering in a new government in 2020 that had campaigned on cleaning up corruption and sleaze.
However, the coalition that defeated Fico's Smer party has fallen after years of in fighting and Smer now leads opinion polls ahead of an early election on 30 September.
Hired hitman
Mr Kuciak and Ms Kusnirova were shot dead at their house outside Bratislava by hired hitman Miroslav Marcek, who was handed a 23-year sentence in 2020.
Two others were also convicted that year.
Zsuzsova, 48, was found guilty for her part in planning the murders, as well as the intended killings of three prosecutors, and given a 25-year sentence today.
"I absolutely don't understand this. Zsuzsova found guilty, Kocner innocent," Mr Kuciak's father, Jozef Kuciak, said on SME's live broadcast outside the court.
"Shame on our judiciary," added Ms Kusnirova's mother, Zlatica Kusnirova.
Mr Kuciak had investigated relations between politicians and business, including the Italian mafia.
According to evidence presented at the trial, Mr Kocner had verbally threatened Kuciak, who had probed his business practices.
The case tried today also involved accusations Mr Kocner had ordered the murders of three prosecutors which were not carried out.
Mr Kocner was sentenced to 19 years in 2020 in an unrelated fraud case and has been serving that sentence.
Reporters Without Borders called today's verdict a "debacle".
"The verdict leaves a bitter taste," it said in a statement. "Full justice has not been served."
Read more: Slovak court acquits businessman of ordering journalist murder
