Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico is pictured in December 2024. Adriano Machado/Reuters Reuters —

A Slovak court ruled on Tuesday that a man who shot and wounded Prime Minister Robert Fico last year was guilty of terrorism charges and gave him a 21-year jail sentence.

Juraj Cintula, 72, shot at Fico five times from just over a one-meter distance as the prime minister greeted people in the central Slovak town of Handlova in May 2024.

Juraj Cintula was sentenced to 21 years in prison on a charge of terrorism. Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters

The verdict of the Specialized Criminal Court in the city of Banska Bystrica closes a trial that began in July and whose main question was whether Cintula, who admitted shooting Fico, was guilty of terrorism.

The ruling can be appealed at the

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