Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico remains in a stable but serious condition as the man accused of trying to assassinate him appeared in court for the first time.

Robert Fico, 59, was attacked as he greeted supporters after a government meeting on Wednesday in the former mining town of Handlova. The suspect was overpowered and detained.

Prosecutors have asked police not to publicly identify the suspect or release further details about the case, but unconfirmed media reports said he was a 71-year-old pensioner, known as an amateur poet, who had worked as a security guard at a shopping mall in the southwest of the country.

Government officials have since given details that match that description. They said the suspect was not a member of any political group, although the attack itself was politically motivated.

As the suspect was questioned, the court in Pezinok – a small city just outside the capital, Bratislava – was guarded by police in balaclavas and armed with shotguns.

Media were not allowed inside the court and reporters were kept behind a gate outside.

Slovakia to hold first hearing in Fico assassination attempt case

The suspect in the attempted assassination of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has been taken to court.

According to Juraj Cintula, he planned to wound the prime minister but allegedly did not want to kill him. pic.twitter.com/bBX6O3kkzI

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 18, 2024

On Friday, police took the suspect to his home in the town of Levice and seized a computer and documents, a Slovak television station reported. Police have not commented on the report.

Fico underwent another operation on Friday to remove dead tissue from his body, said Miriam Lapuníková, the director of the university hospital in Banska Bystrica, where Fico was airlifted after he was shot.

Fico also had a CT scan and was conscious and stable in an intensive care unit at the hospital. The prime minister is conscious and stable in the intensive care unit, medical sources said.

World leaders have condemned the attack and offered support to Fico and Slovakia.

Fico has long been a polarizing figure in Slovakia and beyond. His return to power last year on a pro-Russia, anti-US platform alarmed EU and Nato members who worried that he would steer his country away from its pro-Western course, particularly in relation to Ukraine.

At the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Slovakia was one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters, but Fico suspended arms supplies to Ukraine when he returned to power for a fourth term as prime minister.

Fico’s government has also moved to overhaul public broadcasting – a move that critics say would give the government full control of public television and radio. That, coupled with his plans to change the criminal code to strip the prosecutor’s office of powers to tackle corruption and other serious crimes, has led opponents to fear that Fico is leading Slovakia down a more authoritarian path.

Thousands of protesters have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across the country of 5.4 million people to denounce his policies.

Fico said on Facebook last month that he believed rising tensions in the country could lead to the killing of politicians and blamed the media for stoking tensions.

Before Fico returned to power last year, many of his political and business associates were investigated by police and several have been charged. His plan to overhaul the justice system would abolish the office of the special prosecutor that deals with organized crime, corruption and extremism.

See Also: Robert Fico "não é pró-Rússia, apenas pragmático e não russófobo" (Portuguese version)