Robert Fico was shot four times at close range on May 15.
The man detained for the murder of Robert Fico said he wanted to hurt the Slovak prime minister because he disagreed with government policies and was using a gun he had owned for more than 30 years, a court document released Thursday showed.
The nine-page document details why a court ordered the 71-year-old suspect’s detention, based on the interrogation he had with authorities investigating the case.
These are the suspect’s first official comments that have become public, more than a week after the shooting that left Fico fighting for his life and needing abdominal surgery. His condition has improved, but he remains hospitalized.
The suspect, a former security guard at a shopping center, according to the media, said that no one else knew about his plan. He apologized for his actions and prepared to apologize to Fico, according to a document released by the Special Criminal Court.
Fico was shot four times at close range on May 15 in a square in the central town of Handlova, where the government was meeting.
The court order said that the suspect claimed to have “decided to act” because he disagreed with government policy, “the cancellation of the USP (Special Public Prosecutor’s Office), and disagreed with the persecution of cultural and media workers, and what he mainly wants is military aid to be provided to Ukraine”.
A lawyer for the suspect, when contacted by Reuters, said she had terminated her representation. It was unclear whether the suspect had a new lawyer.
OPPOSITION PROTESTS
The first major assassination attempt on a European political leader in more than 20 years has revealed deep political divisions in the Central European country.
Fico’s nationalist-left coalition government has faced protests from the opposition and criticism from the European Commission over some policy changes, which critics say undermine the rule of law and media freedom.
His government has dismantled the state armed forces in Ukraine, maintained dialogue with Russia, dismantled a special prosecutor’s office that fought corruption and is overhauling the country’s public television and radio broadcaster.
The court document said the suspect, previously identified by prosecutors as Juraj. C, decided around Monday, May 13, two days before the shooting, to harm Fico using a legally owned CZ 75 caliber 9mm handgun that he had owned for over three decades.
Arriving in front of the building at 2:35 pm with the gun and two magazines of around 10 bullets each, the suspect stood with others at a barrier outside the square, he said.
As Fico approached, “he targeted (Fico), specifically at the lower torso,” said the court order, which blacked out the names of the attacker, victim and witnesses.
The warrant said the suspect said he did not intend to kill him but “wanted to harm him and harm his health.”
He said he was never treated in a psychiatric ward or given any psychiatric examination, the document shows.
Acquaintances described him as a member of a literary club and the author of several books. In the past, he participated in at least one paramilitary group rally, but also tried to create a political movement against violence, according to videos verified by Reuters.
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