questions and answers
Writer with a gun license: What is known about the suspected assassin in Slovakia
Rescue workers take the shot and injured Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico to the hospital
© Jan Kroslák / TASR / DPA
Slovakia was in shock, the world was dismayed: after the attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico, many questions remain unanswered. One of them: What drove the suspected assassin?
It is 2:30 p.m. when Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico comes out of the House of Culture to greet his supporters after a cabinet meeting in the small town of Handlova. In the commotion, a man pushes his way to the front of the barrier and aims at the politician, according to video footage from the local television station RTV Prievidza. Eyewitnesses reported that the assassin called Fico over before shooting him five times. The Prime Minister had to go to hospital and his situation was critical, according to several sources. (You can read more about the attack here.) It was initially unclear who was behind the attack. Now the Slovakian Interior Ministry has suspicions. There is also a video in which the man comments.
Who is behind the assassination attempt on the Slovak Prime Minister?
According to Slovak media reports, the suspected attacker is a 71-year-old writer. The man is said to come from the town of Levice, around 150 kilometers east of Bratislava, and to be the founder of a literature club. Accordingly, he is also a member of the official Slovakian Writers’ Association, which they later confirmed via Facebook. She wants to terminate the membership of “this despicable person” if it turns out that he is responsible for the assassination attempt.
The Slovakian Interior Minister has now confirmed media reports about the identity of the suspect. “I think I can confirm that, yes,” Matus Sutaj said on Wednesday, according to the AFP news agency.
Where did the man get the gun?
According to media reports, Juraj C. is said to have worked for a private security service in the past and therefore had a firearms license. He legally owned the murder weapon, his son told the Slovakian news portal aktuality.sk. But this has not been officially confirmed.
What was the alleged perpetrator’s motive?
An initial interrogation revealed that he had a “clearly political motive,” namely rejection of government policy. The TV news channel TA3 and other media were leaked a video recording from the police station. In it, the dazed-looking suspected assassin says: “I don’t agree with government policy.” As an example, he mentioned in an indistinct voice the government’s planned media reform, against which thousands of people have been demonstrating for weeks. According to media reports, the wife of the alleged perpetrator was also questioned by the police. When asked whether his father felt hatred for Prime Minister Fico, his son replied: “He didn’t vote for him, I can’t say anything more about that.”
What are the consequences?
Interior Minister Sutaj Estok announced increased police protection for politicians, but also journalists. At the same time, he called on the media, politicians from all camps and the public to stop “incitement against political opponents on social media”. The liberal opposition leader Michal Simecka canceled all political actions for an indefinite period on Wednesday evening.
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How is Robert Fico doing now?
According to the government, following the assassination attempt on Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, his health has stabilized – although it is still assessed as “very serious”. “During the night, the doctors managed to stabilize the patient’s condition,” said Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak on Thursday morning. “Unfortunately the condition is still very serious as the injuries are complicated,” he added.
According to one of the country’s deputy heads of government, Fico’s life is said to be out of danger. As far as he knows, the operation went well and Fico is “not in a life-threatening condition at the moment,” right-wing populist Environment Minister Tomas Taraba told the BBC on Thursday night. Taraba is one of Fico’s four representatives. There was no official confirmation from the government office or the left-wing populist government party Smer led by Fico this morning. That’s why Slovak media consistently referred to Taraba’s statements in the BBC. Slovak media reported early in the morning that Fico had regained consciousness after the operation.