STS: Pensioner Julius K. Stands Trial for Approval of Fico Assassination Attempt

Banska Bystrica, 14 January (TASR) - The Specialised Criminal Court (STS) in Banska Bystrica on Wednesday began the trial of Julius K. (name abbreviated due to legal reasons), who allegedly publicly approved of the assassination attempt on Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) in the town of Handlova (Trencin region) on 15 May 2024. Shooter Juraj C., was found guilty by STS of committing a terrorist attack, for which he was sentenced to 21 years in prison. The defendant reportedly repeatedly expressed his support for the attack on the internet. He claims that he is innocent, and his defence argues that it was "perhaps harsh, but only satirical language". Julius K., who appeared on the website as 'Blue Rabbit', repeatedly approved of the terrorist attack in his posts shortly after the shooting of Fico in May 2024, thereby allegedly committing the crime of other forms of participation in terrorism. "After the assassination attempt, the defendant stated in his so-called morning news programme, which he broadcasts and describes as the only objective news programme in Slovakia, that Juraj C. had missed the prime minister but should have shot him in the head," said prosecutor of the Nitra Regional Prosecutor's Office Janka Pravdova in the indictment. At the beginning of the trial, Julius K. filed an objection of bias against the presiding judge. She was a member of the STS panel that convicted Juraj C., and, according to the defendant, her legal opinion that the attack on the prime minister was an act of terrorism is therefore obvious in advance. The defendant therefore has no way of convincing her otherwise. The question, he said, is whether it really was a terrorist attack and whether the act characterised in this way took place. According to Julius K.'s defence, there is no legally valid answer to this question, i.e., a decision by a court of appeal. The judge dismissed the objection on the grounds that she didn't feel that she is biased. "I'm innocent," declared pensioner Julius K., who refused to testify. His statement from the preliminary proceedings, in which he claimed that he had never approved of any shooting or assassination attempt, was therefore read out. However, he doesn't believe that in Fico's case it ever happened. In his videos, he allegedly only expressed doubt as to whether the assassination attempt had actually taken place, as there is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding it. am/df