The condition of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is stabilized, but remains serious, the Minister of Health Zuzana Dolinkova announced after the attempt on him, quoted by Reuters and Associated Press, BTA reported.
Dolinkova explained that yesterday's two-hour operation to remove dead tissue from the multiple gunshot wounds, which increased hopes for his recovery, had "contributed to a positive prognosis" for him.
Fizo underwent a two-hour operation yesterday, which has improved his recovery prospects. "We are gradually getting closer to a positive prognosis," Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kaliniak told journalists outside the hospital where Fico is being treated.
"In the first hours, the prognosis was very, very bad, you know that shots to the abdomen are generally fatal, in this case (doctors) managed to reverse this development and further stabilize his condition," explained the Deputy Prime Minister.
In his words, Fico still faces a "big risk" of complications, Kaliniak said. "The reaction of the body to a gunshot wound is always very serious and carries (the risk of) a number of complications, which lasts for 4-5 days, i.e. today and tomorrow," he said, adding that it was unlikely that Fitzo would be transferred in the following days to the capital Bratislava from the hospital in Banska Bystrica, where he was taken by helicopter after being shot five times at point blank range in the town of Handlova.
"In the last days, several miracles happened /.../ through the hands of the doctors, nurses and all the medical staff,", Kaliniak said. "I can't find words of gratitude that we are steadily moving towards this positive outlook," he added.
According to the deputy prime minister, it was not necessary to officially take over the prime ministerial functions of Fico and there is some communication with him.
Around 100 supporters of Robert Fizzo, some of whom carried flowers, gathered today in front of the University Hospital "F. D. Roosevelt" in Banska Bistrica, where he is being treated after the shooting.
The attack sent shockwaves across Europe and raised concern about the polarized and volatile political situation in Slovakia, which has a population of 5.4 million.
Slovak police charged the attempted murder of a man, identified only as Juraj Ts. by the prosecutor's office, for the attempt against Fico.
Today, the court in Pezinok, a small town not far from the capital Bratislava, ordered that he remain in custody, Slovak officials announced.
Prosecutors have asked Slovakia's specialized criminal court for an order to keep the suspect in custody due to concerns he may flee or commit other crimes, a court spokesman said.
The Slovak prosecutor's office asked the police not to publicly identify the man and not to release any other details about the case. According to unconfirmed reports in local media, he is a 71-year-old retiree, known as an amateur poet and author of three collections of poems, who appears to have once worked as a former security guard at a shopping center in the southwestern part of the country, Reuters noted.
According to details provided by Slovak government authorities that fit this description, the suspect did not belong to any political groups, although the attack itself was politically motivated.
At his first appearance in a courtroom in Pezinok today, the courthouse was guarded by masked and helmeted police armed with rifles. The media was not allowed in the court, and journalists were kept outside the building, the Associated Press notes.