Juraj Cintula, who allegedly shot Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico last week, said during interrogation that he did not want to kill Fico, but only to “harm his health” so that he could not continue to pursue policies with which the shooter disagreed. 

According to the court document, Tsintula claimed that he felt "powerless and disillusioned with the state of society" after the decisions of the Fico government and "did not agree with the policies of the current government" - in particular the abolition of the Special Prosecutor's Office and pressure on independent media.

He said that he seeks to resume “military assistance to Ukraine” from Slovakia and “considers the current government a Judas in relation to the European Union,” so he “decided to act.”

One witness quoted in the court document claimed that he heard Tsintula say “hostile and spiteful things” about Robert Fico, and that “he was concerned about the way (the Slovak prime minister – Ed.) was behaving towards Russia and Hungary, that he has good relations with them."

The attacker on the Slovak prime minister, according to court materials, acted on his own. He began planning the attack on Fico on May 13, using a Czech-made 9-mm CZ 75 pistol, which he legally owned.