The attacker admitted to shooting Robert Fico over his government\u2019s policies<\/p>\n
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\u2019s leader seriously wounded last year.
\nJuraj 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.
\nThe 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.
\nDuring the hearings, Cintula told the judges that he carried out the attack because he opposed Fico\u2019s political stance. After returning to power in 2023, Fico ended Slovakia\u2019s policy of sending weapons to Ukraine and took a more neutral position towards Russia \u2013 a move Cintula cited as one of the reasons for his actions. He described the shooting as \u201ca scream against fear that is paralysing society,\u201d as quoted by Reuters.
\nFico 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.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Would-be Trump assassin convicted<\/p>\n
In a separate case last month, American pro-Ukrainian activist Ryan Wesley Routh was found guilty of attempting to assassinate US President Donald Trump. He faces a potential life sentence when the court delivers a sentence in December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The attacker admitted to shooting Robert Fico over his government\u2019s policies A Slovak court has sentenced a pro-Ukrainian activist to 21 years in prison for the attempted assassination of Prime…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t