Slovakia: long prison sentence for Fico's attacker
Eighteen months after the assassination attempt on Robert Fico, a court has found the defendant guilty of shooting and seriously injuring the Slovak prime minister in May 2024, and sentenced him to 21 years in prison for terrorism. The 72-year-old pensioner confessed to the shooting and cited hatred of Fico and his government's policies as his motive. What conclusions can be drawn from the case?
Parallel realities
Seznam Zprávy laments that the assassination attempt has become a weapon in the political struggle:
“The attempt on Fico's life has turned into a dispute over the interpretation of reality. What happened? And did it even happen? The assassination attempt itself has almost lost its significance and become just another trauma that has not been processed in any collective reflection. Today everyone believes whatever they want to about the attack on the prime minister. Or what suits them. And clearly we decide what happened not on the basis of evidence, but according to political affiliation. There are two parallel realities between which there is no overlap. Slovakia is simply carrying on as usual, and instead of healing its wound it is deepening it.”
A fair trial
Denník N praises the investigators and the judiciary for doing a good job:
“That the Special Criminal Court handled such a sensitive case so professionally is positive. The trial itself appears to have been fair, it was public and the media were able to cover it without restrictions. ... We can therefore trust and respect the judgement. ... This was not a case involving organised crime. ... Not even the defendant's family knew of his intentions, no one helped him to cover his tracks, and there is no evidence that anyone persuaded him to commit the murder. ... The accusations of politicians from the government coalition that the perpetrator was a tool of the opposition were rejected by the court.”