BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia (Reuters) -A Slovak court ruled on Tuesday that a man who shot and wounded Prime Minister Robert Fico last year was guilty of terrorism charges and handed him a 21-year jail sentence.
Juraj Cintula, 72, shot at Fico five times from just over a one-metre distance as the prime minister greeted people in the central Slovak town of Handlova in May 2024.
The verdict of the Specialised Criminal Court in the city of Banska Bystrica closes a trial that began in July and whose main question was whether Cintula, who admitted shooting Fico, was guilty of terrorism.
The ruling can be appealed at the country’s supreme court.
Fico was struck four times and was seriously injured in his abdomen, and also suffered injuries to his hip, hand and foot. He made his first public appearance in July last year, a few months after the attack.
Cintula said he wanted to hurt but not kill Fico, because he wanted to stop him from continuing his policies which he said hurt Slovakian freedom and culture.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Ros Russell)
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