A “good neighbor”, newbie author, offended citizen: the pensioner accused of desirous to kill Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fičo has many faces, however none of them appear to actually match his excessive act.
Passing by a row of house buildings in Levice, a city in central Slovakia, passers-by take a fast look in the direction of the seventh flooring. The alleged attacker, whose identification has not been launched by authorities, has lived in one of many residences going through the boulevard for 40 years, a neighbor stated.
The 71-year-old is accused of capturing the prime minister in chilly blood and “will need to have gone mad,” Ludovit Miele stated of the “good, useful” neighbor he has recognized since 1983. They final spoke on Monday. “All of us have political views, however he by no means expressed them forcefully,” Mile assured, admitting that he disagreed with “sure measures taken by the federal government” of Fitzo. In any case, they talked “little or no about politics” with this retired father of two grown kids, he identified.
Was it actually a politically motivated assassination try, because the police declare? “No, it's not doable,” insisted the neighbor, describing the quiet lifetime of a person who beloved nation walks along with his spouse. He had been out of labor as a safety guard at a shopping center in Levice for a number of years and was experiencing well being issues.
Slovak media have pulled from their archives a video from 2016 wherein the suspect was talking to a TV channel about being attacked by an offended buyer whereas working in a grocery store. The report exhibits an agile man with a grey beard and lots of cuts on his face and arms.
Not lengthy after, he wished to discovered a political motion “in opposition to violence,” as he stated in a YouTube video he posted on the time — certainly one of which nonetheless exists on-line. “The world is stuffed with violence and weapons. Individuals appear like they've gone loopy,” he stated within the footage launched by the Postoj newspaper. “Our objective is to unite folks, protect peace and restore democracy. It is rather tough as a result of nobody trusts anybody (…) Migrants are flocking to Europe, hatred and extremism are all over the place. However the worst factor is that the European governments don’t have any various to the chaos”, he added.
The motion has a Fb web page, with 191 followers. One of many newest posts, from April 2022, is a video of an illustration in opposition to the conflict in Ukraine organized in Bratislava by Russians who stated they have been in opposition to Vladimir Putin.
The 71-year-old “wasn't speaking in regards to the conflict”, nonetheless, his neighbor assured. However he didn't speak about his different ardour, literature and poetry both. He was the co-founder, in 2005, of a literary membership in Levice, “Duha”, which suggests “rainbow”. The title was chosen as a result of “every author has his personal fashion, however collectively they create magnificence,” defined one of many members, who requested to stay nameless.
The membership, which declares itself to be “strictly apolitical”, described the assault in opposition to the prime minister as a “great tragedy”.
The alleged perpetrator had written a number of poems however didn’t attend any membership occasions from 2019 onwards. None of his work has been revealed since then, Duha clarified, noting that he has been “tarnished” by the hate mail he receives.
A photograph of the 71-year-old, taken in 2016, with members of the far-right pro-Russian group Slovenskí branci (Slovak Lotteries) additionally raises questions. He had praised them on Fb, contemplating them to be “patriots” who defend residents. This paramilitary group ceased its operations two years in the past.
