BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia, Oct 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The man who admitted to shooting Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico last year will on Tuesday hear a court verdict that could send him to prison for life.

Juraj Cintula, a 72-year-old poet, shot the nationalist and Kremlin-friendly Fico four times at close range on May 15, 2024, leaving him seriously wounded.

The attack occurred after a government meeting in the central Slovak mining town of Handlova as Fico walked into the street to greet fans.

Cintula, who was detained at the scene, has said he shot Fico with the intention to wound but not kill him.

"It was worth it," local media quoted him as shouting as he left court earlier this month after giving his closing trial statement.

The trial, at a special penal court in the central city of Banska Bystrica, began in July.

Fico himself did not testify but a video statement he gave to investigators after the attack was played in court.

Prosecutors originally charged Cintula with premeditated murder but they later reclassified the shooting as a "terror" attack, citing his political motivation.

After the shooting, Cintula told police he wanted to protest against steps taken by Fico's government, including the halting of military aid to war-ravaged Ukraine, according to a leaked video.

- 'Moral despair' -

Fico underwent two lengthy operations and returned to work two months after he was shot.

The 61-year-old is serving a fourth term as prime minister at the head of a three-party coalition that has governed the EU and NATO member of 5.4 million people since 2023.

Since his return to office, Fico's government has launched a crackdown on non-profit organisations, cultural institutions and some media outlets it deems "hostile", sparking protests in the heavily polarised country.

Last month, parliament approved a constitutional amendment to limit LGBTQ rights as part of a sweeping change that also sees national law take precedence over European Union law.

Fico's friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin has also led to protests by thousands of Slovaks under the slogan of "Slovakia is Europe".

In his final statement, a visibly emotional Cintula told the court he had been motivated by "moral despair".

He called his defence "a manifesto... for all those who feel that the arrogance of power, corruption and lies has no place in the country where our children will grow up".

Once a Fico fan, Cintula changed his mind when, as he put it, the prime minister, "drunk with power, started to bend the truth", making "irrational decisions that damage this country".

Describing the attack, Cintula said he knew he "only had seconds to decide" as he stood in the crowd facing Fico.

"The premier... embodied years of accumulated frustration and despair," Cintula said.

Fico has accused Cintula of being a "product of hatred, an assassin created by media and the opposition".