Overview
- Slovakia’s Specialised Criminal Court in Banska Bystrica found 72-year-old Juraj Cintula guilty of carrying out a terror attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico.
- The three-judge panel led by Igor Králik said the political target and intent distinguished the act from an ordinary violent crime.
- Cintula told investigators he intended to wound rather than kill and framed his actions as driven by “moral despair.”
- Prosecutors first filed premeditated murder charges before reclassifying the case as terrorism based on political motivation.
- The May 2024 shooting in Handlová seriously injured Fico and has deepened Slovakia’s political rifts, with protests and recriminations continuing.