THE ITALIAN mafia could be behind the killing of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend Martina Kusnirova in Slovakia, says his colleague Tom Nicholson.

Canadian journalist Mr Nicholson, who is based in Slovakia, says that Mr Kuciak told him before his death that he was working on a story about Italian mafia involvement in a fraud linked to EU subsidies in the country’s east.

“I’m not sure what caused Jan’s death, but I bet my life this is so,” he said.

Mr Kuciak and Ms Kusnirova were found dead in their home in Velka Maca on Sunday evening.

Daily paper Sme, which ran Mr Nicholson’s interview, linked the story to Prime Minister Robert Fico by claiming two Italian businessmen with possible mafia ties did business with one of Mr Fico’s top advisers, prompting the opposition to call on police head and Interior Minister Robert Kalinak to resign.

Mr Fico has dismissed the reports.