The alleged author of the shots against the Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, who was arrested on the same Wednesday in Handlová, the town where the events took place, presents the profile of a lone wolf, according to the Minister of the Interior, Matús Sutaj Estok. The 71-year-old man, identified by Slovak media as Juraj Cintula, is a writer, mostly of poetry, and former employee of a security company.
The police accuse him of “premeditated murder attempt for revenge”, Minister Sutaj Estok announced. It is a crime that could lead to a sentence of between 25 years and life imprisonment. “He was a lone wolf” who decided to act “after the results of the presidential elections, with which he was not happy”, said the minister, who emphasized that he had acted “motivated by political considerations”.
In April there were elections for head of state, and Peter Pellegrini, candidate of the Hlas party, which is part of the Fico Government coalition, won, which consolidated the dominance of the political bloc of prime minister The outgoing president, Zuzana Caputová, ends her term on June 15.
The detainee is in the custody of a special unit of the criminal police in the city of Nitra. According to Markíza television, he told the officers that he was proud of his act. The assailant, before firing five bullets, called Fico to attract his attention: “Robo [Robert], come closer.”
Cintula’s son confirmed that the detainee has a weapons license and denied that he is a patient in a psychiatric hospital. “I don’t have the slightest idea what my father intended, what he had planned, what happened”, the son declared to the Aktuality media. He also stated that what he could say about his father’s views on Fico was that he had not voted for him. In an undated video posted on Facebook, the alleged attacker is seen saying: “I don’t agree with the Government’s policy.”
Juraj Cintula criticized Fico in his political blog. According to the Slovak press, in his capacity as a writer he had published three anthologies of poetry, mainly satirical, and a book about the gypsies with very pejorative attacks. He is a member of the Slovak Society of Writers, and in his hometown of Levice, he was part of the Literary Club of Arc de Sant Martí (DUHA), of which he was a founding member. In a statement, the club “categorically rejected the behavior, opinions and actions of Juraj Cintula”, showed its indignation at the “brutal act”, and announced the revocation “with immediate effect” of the membership of the aggressor in the club
The traits emerging about Cintula portray someone with diverse impulses. The alleged author of the shots against Robert Fico promoted a platform against violence in 2016. “The world is full of violence and weapons, as if people have gone mad”, said Cintula in a recorded message, reports Efe.
On the other hand, according to the Hungarian investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi, the aggressor had links with Slovenskí Branci, a Slovak far-right and pro-Russian paramilitary group, now gone. In a 2016 message on the group’s Facebook page, Cintula can be seen claiming the existence of armed militias to defend Europeans from the arrival of “hundreds of thousands of migrants”.