This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Slovakian police say they have detained several Italian businessmen named as having mafia connections in a posthumously published investigative report on alleged high level corruption by the murdered journalist Ján Kuciak.

The country’s police chief, Tibor Gaspar, told reporters in the eastern town of Michalovce on Thursday that about 10 people would be detained. “I can confirm that these raids and detentions are being carried out in several places,” he said.

Gaspar said those taken into custody were “persons mentioned” by Kuciak in connection with the “Italian track”.

Slovakia’s Interior Minister said the FBI and Britain’s Scotland Yard and other foreign agencies are helping Slovak authorities investigate the killings of Kuciak and his girlfriend Martina Kusnirova at their home on Sunday.

In a message posted on Facebook, Robert Kalinak said he has been in touch with “the most important investigative agencies in the world,” having asked for help in the wake of the discovery of their bodies.

Kalinak previously said that Czech and Italian police forces as well Europol have been cooperating with their Slovak counterparts in the investigation.

Shot journalist 'was investigating Slovakian links to Italian mafia' Read more

Slovakian media reported that one of the detained was Antonino Vadala, an Italian who did business with at least two officials close to the prime minister, Robert Fico. The officials, who deny any involvement in the murder, resigned from their posts in the government office on Wednesday.

“Physical evidence and individuals are being detained, they will be interrogated,” Gaspar said.

The article by Kuciak, published on Wednesday by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, focused on fraud cases allegedly involving Vadala.

Maria Troskova, a close Fico aide, was forced out after Kuciak alleged she had ties to Vadala, who was purportedly involved with the Italian ‘Ndrangheta crime syndicate in Slovakia.

The bodies of Kuciak, 27, and his girlfriend, Martina Kusnirova, were found on Sunday evening at their house in Vel’ká Mača, east of the capital city, Bratislava.

The murders have raised concerns about media freedoms and corruption in Slovakia and sparked a wave of international condemnation. A protest in Bratislava called by a conservative opposition party drew around 1,000 people on Wednesday night.

The march was the first of several planned to honour Kuciak and protest against graft in the small EU state. Other anti-corruption protests are being planned across Slovakia and in Prague, London and the Hague on Friday.

Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press contributed to this report