A Slovak court has sentenced a pro-Ukrainian activist to 21 years in prison for the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Robert Fico, which left the nation’s leader seriously wounded last year.
Juraj Cintula, 72, was found guilty of committing an act of terrorism by the Specialized Criminal Court in Banska Bystrica on Tuesday. He admitted during the trial to firing at Fico from close range while the prime minister was greeting supporters in the central Slovak town of Handlova in May 2024.
The court proceedings, which began in July, focused on whether the attack qualified as terrorism or a lesser criminal offense. Cintula has announced his intention to appeal the verdict.
During the hearings, Cintula told the judges that he carried out the attack because he opposed Fico’s political stance. After returning to power in 2023, Fico ended Slovakia’s policy of sending weapons to Ukraine and took a more neutral position towards Russia – a move Cintula cited as one of the reasons for his actions. He described the shooting as “a scream against fear that is paralysing society,” as quoted by Reuters.
Fico has since blamed opposition politicians and the media for creating what he called a climate of hatred that encouraged violence against his government. The 59-year-old prime minister spent two months recovering from four gunshot wounds before resuming public appearances.
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