Court to Rule on Gunman who Shot Slovak PM

The man who admitted to shooting Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico last year will hear a court verdict on Tuesday that could result in a life prison sentence.

Juraj Cintula, a 72-year-old poet, shot the nationalist and Kremlin-friendly Fico four times at close range on May 15, 2024, leaving him seriously injured.

The attack took place after a government meeting in Handlová, a central Slovak mining town, as Fico greeted supporters on the street.

Cintula, detained at the scene, stated he intended to wound rather than kill Fico. Local media quoted him as shouting, “It was worth it,” after giving his closing statement in court earlier this month.

The trial, held at a special penal court in Banská Bystrica, began in July. Fico did not testify in person, but investigators played a video statement he had made after the attack.

Prosecutors initially charged Cintula with premeditated murder, later reclassifying it as a politically motivated “terror” attack.

A leaked video shows Cintula told police he wanted to protest Fico’s government actions, including halting military aid to Ukraine.

Fico, 61, underwent two major operations and returned to work two months after the shooting. He is serving his fourth term as prime minister, leading a three-party coalition that has governed Slovakia, a 5.4 million-strong EU and NATO member, since 2023.

Since his return, Fico’s administration has cracked down on NGOs, cultural institutions, and some media outlets deemed “hostile”, prompting protests in the heavily polarised country.

Parliament recently approved a constitutional amendment limiting LGBTQ rights, giving national law precedence over EU law.

Fico’s close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin have also sparked mass demonstrations under the slogan “Slovakia is Europe.”

In his final statement, Cintula said he was driven by “moral despair” and described his defence as “a manifesto… for all those who feel that the arrogance of power, corruption and lies has no place in the country where our children will grow up.”

Once a Fico supporter, Cintula said he changed his mind when the prime minister, “drunk with power, started to bend the truth,” making “irrational decisions that damage this country.”

Describing the attack, Cintula said he had only seconds to act as he faced Fico in the crowd. “The premier… embodied years of accumulated frustration and despair,” he said.

Fico has called Cintula “a product of hatred, an assassin created by the media and the opposition.”