BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – A court in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, on Tuesday sentenced 72-year-old poet Juraj Šintula to 21 years in prison.
This comes after he was convicted of terrorism charges for the attempted assassination of nationalist Prime Minister Robert Fico in May 2024.
This incident shook the country and raised the concerns of the European Union.
According to a Radio France Internationale (RFI) report, Chintola fired five bullets at Vitso from very close range,
As he left a government meeting in the central Slovak city of Handlova,
This caused him severe injuries and required two surgeries before he returned to work two months later.
Judge Igor Kralik explained that the defendant “was seeking to obstruct
the government’s work” and that his motives were “purely political.”
Adding that the justifications he offered about “only wanting to injure the Prime Minister” were illogical,
This is because he was carrying two full magazines and continued firing even after he was subdued.
The prosecution later classified the attack as a terrorist act,
due to its political background and the accused’s rejection of FISO’s policies.
Especially his decision to halt military support for Ukraine and his growing rapprochement with Russia,
which Shintola considered a “betrayal of European values.”
Robert Fico is one of the most controversial politicians in Eastern Europe,
facing widespread criticism for his populist nationalist rhetoric.
And his hardline stance towards the media, civil society organizations, and the gay community,
In addition to the tension in his relations with the European Union after he announced that Slovak laws take precedence over European legislation.
The incident brought to mind the 2018 murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée.
This crime led to Fico’s resignation as prime minister, before he returned to power in 2023.
