Court Adjourns Trial Regarding Alleged Support for Attack on PM Fico (2)

Banska Bystrica/Bratislava, 3 April (TASR) – The Specialised Criminal Court has adjourned indefinitely the trial of Julius K. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons], who is accused of publicly approving of the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD), TASR learnt on Friday. The attack took place in Handlova on 15 May 2024. The gunman, Juraj C., was found guilty by the Specialised Criminal Court of committing a terrorist attack and sentenced to 21 years in prison. Julius K., a pensioner, allegedly repeatedly expressed support for him in online posts. He claims that he is innocent. "The court on Thursday (2 April) continued to take evidence by reading documentary materials and playing audio-visual recordings. The hearing has been adjourned indefinitely due to the need to obtain a case file from Nitra District Court from separate proceedings conducted against the defendant. Hearings will resume when the case before Nitra District Court is legally concluded and the file attached to these proceedings," explained court spokesperson Iveta Pulman Erdelyiova. Julius K., who appeared online under the name 'Blue Rabbit', allegedly approved of the terrorist attack in multiple posts shortly after the shooting, thereby committing the criminal offence of other forms of participation in terrorism. "After the assassination attempt, in his so-called morning news programme, which he broadcasts and presents as the only objective news in Slovakia, the defendant stated in response to the attack that Juraj C. had missed the prime minister and should have shot him in the forehead," said prosecutor Janka Pravdova of the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Nitra in the indictment. "I am innocent," stated Julius K., who claimed in his testimony from pre-trial proceedings that he's never approved of any shooting or attack. "How can I approve of something I don't believe in, something I have questioned in many articles? Today, I may think that the attack happened, but certainly not as described by the governing coalition," said the pensioner at the start of the trial. If found guilty, the defendant will face a prison sentence of three to ten years. NOTE: This story has been extended to include the final three paragraphs mf/df