Slovak police have charged a man described as a politically motivated “lone wolf” with the attempted murder of Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is seriously injured in hospital after an assassination attempt that shocked the Eastern European nation.
Fico is stable, but in serious condition, after being shot five times at close range and undergoing surgery, his deputy said this Thursday (16). The assassination attempt shook the Central European country and sparked global condemnation. Slovak Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj-Eštok said the suspect told authorities that his action was motivated by his disagreement with the government and its reforms.
The 59-year-old populist leader, who returned to power last year and whose controversial political changes have sparked protests in recent weeks, was attacked on Wednesday (15) after a government meeting in the town of Handlova.
The prime minister had approached a small crowd waiting to meet him when the suspected gunman in the crowd moved forward and shot him five times through a security barrier. Footage from the scene showed the injured prime minister being placed in a vehicle by his team, before it drove off at high speed with him inside. No one else was injured in the attack.
Fico was first rushed to a local hospital and then transported to a large trauma center in the nearby town of Banská Bystrica, where he spent more than five hours in surgery, according to hospital officials.
The hospital's director, Miriam Lapuníková, said that Fico was “stabilized, but in a very serious condition” and that he would remain in the hospital's intensive care unit. She added that the hospital had two surgical teams operating on the prime minister.
On Thursday morning, the country's Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kaliňák said that Fico's condition “has stabilized overnight, and further measures are being taken to improve his health. The situation is very serious.”
Kaliňák and Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok held a press conference outside the hospital on Wednesday night, saying the leader was “fighting for his life.”
Visibly shaken and sometimes having difficulty finding words, the two ministers seemed deeply shocked by the attack. Later, at the press conference, the two men adopted a more combative tone, attributing the attack to the “hate” spread by “some people” and the media.
Political motivation
“The reasons were the decision to abolish the special prosecutor's office, the decision to stop providing military assistance to Ukraine, the reform of public service broadcasting and the dismissal of the head of the judicial council,” Šutaj-Eštok said.
He said the suspect is not a member of any extremist group, calling him “a lone wolf who decided to act after the presidential elections” and who has participated in anti-government protests in the past.
Fico's reforms were extremely divisive and led to months of largely peaceful protests.
The alleged shooter was identified by several local media outlets as a 71-year-old man from southern Slovakia.
There was no official confirmation of the shooter's identity, but his face was clearly visible in some videos of the attack and his subsequent arrest.
Slovak media reported that the shooter was a writer and poet. The Slovak Writers' Association said Wednesday that the name identified in local media was that of a member of the group.
Source: CNN Brasil
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