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A Slovak court has sentenced a 72-year-old man to 21 years in prison for shooting the prime minister, Robert Fico, in what judges ruled to be a terrorist attack – despite earlier rulings by the country’s Supreme Court that questioned whether the act met the legal definition of terrorism.

Juraj Cintula, a retired security guard and self-styled poet from the western town of Levice, shot Fico four times at close range in May 2024 as the prime minister was greeting supporters after a government meeting in Handlová. Fico sustained serious abdominal and hip injuries and was airlifted to hospital, but later recovered.

The Specialised Criminal Court in Banská Bystrica found that Cintula’s actions amounted to terrorism because they were aimed at destabilising the government and intimidating state institutions, Denník N reports. Presiding judge Igor Králik said the panel had “no doubt about who committed the act”, but the key issue was how to classify it.

The court used a provision allowing an exceptional reduction of sentence, sparing Cintula a potential life term. His age, poor health and “total lack of previous convictions” were cited as mitigating factors.

Prime Minister Fico did not attend the trial and did not seek compensation.

What injuries did the prime minister suffer?

• A gunshot wound to the abdomen, damaging the large and small intestines and the soft tissue around the bladder.

• Another bullet that passed through his hip and hip joint before lodging in the muscle of his left buttock.

• An injury to the big toe on his right foot.

• A gunshot wound to his left forearm.

Prosecutor hails terror verdict

Prosecutor Katarína Habčáková, who led the case, welcomed the ruling and said she would not appeal. She argued during closing statements that Cintula’s actions were “clearly directed against the constitutional order” and that his statements and online posts showed political intent.

Cintula, who admitted firing the shots, claimed he had not intended to kill the prime minister but to “frighten him” and protest against what he saw as the government’s destruction of democracy. His lawyer, Namir Alyasry, said after the hearing that an appeal was “very likely”, arguing that the terrorism charge was “legally unfounded” and that “the evidence did not meet the required definition under Slovak law”.

The ruling panel rejected the defence’s claim and pointed to Cintula’s recorded phone-calls from custody and his social-media posts criticising the government as evidence of political motive. In oral reasoning the court said these indicators showed the attack was not a typical personal assault but aimed at the state apparatus.

The verdict was adopted unanimously (3–0) by the judicial panel.

Case timeline

• The indictment reached the court on 17 March 2025.

• The first hearing took place on 8 July 2025, and the case concluded with the verdict on 21 October 2025.

• In total, eight main hearings were held, meaning the case was completed in just over three and a half months.

Supreme Court raised doubts

Earlier in the proceedings, the Supreme Court, when ruling on Cintula’s pre-trial detention, had expressed doubts that the act met the conditions of terrorism, noting that the evidence at that time did not fully support the charge. Cintula was initially charged with attempted premeditated murder.

Cintula’s trial featured testimony from the prime minister’s security detail and witnesses who saw the attack. There was no dispute about his guilt, as footage from a local television crew captured the shooting.

If the defence proceeds with its appeal, the case will return to the Supreme Court, which will have to decide whether the lower court’s definition of terrorism can stand.

Fico reacts to verdict

The prime minister Robert has reacted to the sentencing of Cintula with a renewed attack on the country’s opposition parties and media, accusing them of spreading hatred that fuelled the shooting.

“I couldn’t ignore today’s verdict,” Fico said in a statement. “The attacker is, in essence, a wretch — merely a tool of hatred carefully cultivated in him by the media and opposition politicians. It’s unfair that while he will spend the rest of his life behind bars, his teachers will continue shouting in the squares and training the next unfortunate soul who succumbs to their hate and carries out political ‘justice’.”

Fico suggested that opposition figures had discussed whether he would survive the shooting and even speculated about the timing of early elections, saying they had hoped his removal from public life would follow. “It’s now obvious they couldn’t care less about what happened on 15 May 2024 — they see it only as a failed attempt to eliminate a political rival outside the ballot box,” he added.

However, no evidence has been presented to support Fico’s claims that opposition politicians or journalists were directly or indirectly involved in motivating or assisting the gunman.