A Slovak court said Tuesday it would postpone a hearing where judges were set to issue a verdict on the suspected mastermind of a journalist's murder that rocked the country's politics. The specialised criminal court said the verdict on businessman Marian Kocner and two accomplices for the 2018 killings of investigative reporter Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova would be read on September 3. It was a last-minute postponement pushing the date back from Wednesday. "The senate led by Ruzena Sabova cancelled the date of tomorrow's (Wednesday) main hearing due to the need to continue the senate meeting on the forthcoming judgement," court spokeswoman Katarina Kudjakova told AFP. Three judges make up the senate which hears the case and decides on the verdict. Kocner was set to learn his fate for allegedly masterminding the murders, which shocked the nation, exposed high-level political corruption and ultimately toppled the governing party. The multi-millionaire and two suspected accomplices face up to 25 years in prison for the February 2018 killings. Both aged 27, Kuciak and Kusnirova were gunned down at home after Kuciak wrote several revealing stories on graft and the shady dealings of Kocner, a high-powered entrepreneur with ties to senior government politicians. According to the prosecution, Kocner ordered Kuciak's murder in revenge for the articles detailing his various property crimes. "This postponement may mean that one of the members of the senate doubts the guilt of one of the defendants," the local Dennik N newspaper wrote on Tuesday. "Since we do not know the exact reasons for such a decision, we can only respect it," prosecutor Juraj Novocky was quoted as saying by the newspaper. juh/dt/tgb