High-Profile Suicide Reveals Fractures in Slovak Society

Milan Lucansky rose to prominence on the back of his high-profile crackdown on notorious criminal clans in Slovakia over the past two decades. Yet, as part of a wide-ranging purge of corrupt officials in the top echelons of the judiciary and police, he was taken into custody late last year on suspicion of interfering in top-level investigations in return for lucrative bribes - a gritty move by the authorities that divided Slovak politics and society.

Lucansky's death, consequently, unleashed a flurry of misinformation and conspiracy theories that flooded the online space and dominated public debate for several days after. A number of alternative and disinformation sites were quick to fan the flames of division by spreading rumours that Lucansky had been murdered. And an online tribute movement #AllForMilan was started - an explicit reference to the #AllForJan campaign triggered by the 2018 murder of the investigative journalist Jan Kuciak.

The social media campaign was not the only parallel that many drew between the tragic deaths of Lucansky and Kuciak, however. The aftermath of both was marked by tense instances of civil disobedience, suggesting that the partisan divide over political and democratic values remains wide and Slovak society is once again growing restless.

Candles are placed during a march in memory of murdered Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, in front of the Slovak government building in Bratislava, Slovakia, 28 February 2018. EPA-EFE/MATEJ KALINA Radical likeness

Days after Kuciak's shooting in 2018, mass rallies - the likes of which hadn't been seen since the Velvet Revolution two decades earlier - were held demanding a clear-out of Slovakia's political leadership. In...

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