Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico appears for the first time since assassination attempt

He said, “I forgive him and let him think about what he did and why he did it.”

Bratislava:

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico spoke for the first time since he was shot and injured in a deadly attack on him last month in a video posted on Wednesday.

In a video on Facebook, Fico said he had forgiven the attacker who shot him four times and announced he would be ready to gradually resume his duties from the end of this month.

“I have no hatred towards the stranger who shot me,” Fico said, according to a translation of the video into English. He appeared calm but spoke at long intervals.

He said, “I forgive him and let him think about what he did and why he did it.”

On May 15, Fico was shot four times at close range as he greeted supporters after a government meeting in the central town of Handlova.

The accused gunman, identified by Slovak media as 71-year-old poet Juraj Cintula, has been charged with attempted premeditated murder and taken into custody.

Fico was taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Banska Bistrica, where he underwent two lengthy surgeries and continued to improve until he was transferred home for treatment on 31 May.

“If everything goes according to plan, I could see a gradual return to work by the end of June and July,” Fico said in a video posted Wednesday.

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