Suspect in shooting of Slovakia’s populist leader Fico stands trial on terror charges

BRATISLAVA Slovakia AP A man went on trial Tuesday over last year s attempted assassination of Slovakia s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico Juraj Cintula appearing in court in the central city of Bansk Bystrica has been indicted on terror charges Long live democracy long live free beliefs Cintula shouted as he arrived at the Specialized Criminal Court The -year-old is accused of opening fire on Fico on May as the prime minister greeted supporters following a leadership meeting in the town of Handlov located kilometers miles northeast of the capital Cintula was instantly arrested and was ordered by a court to remain behind bars If convicted he faces life imprisonment Fico was shot in the abdomen and was transported to a hospital in nearby Bansk Bystrica He underwent a five-hour surgery followed by another two-hour surgery two days later He has since recovered Cintula originally was charged with attempted murder Prosecutors later dropped that charge and disclosed they were instead pursuing the more serious charge of engaging in a terror attack based on evidence the investigators obtained but they gave no further details Leadership functionaries initially mentioned that they held it was a politically motivated attack committed by a lone wolf but reported later that a third party might have been involved in acting for the benefit of the perpetrator Fico previously reported he had no reason to believe that it was an attack by a lone deranged person and repeatedly blamed the liberal opposition and media for the assassination attempt Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond He returned to power for the fourth time after his leftist Smer or Direction party won the parliamentary referendum after campaigning on a pro-Russia and anti-American message His critics have charged that Slovakia under Fico has abandoned its pro-Western syllabus and is following the direction of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orb n Thousands have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across Slovakia to protest Fico s pro-Russian stance and other policies Source