Splattered with blood, they offer a glimpse into the tortured soul of a would-be assassin. The poems and writings of alleged gunman Juraj Cintula suggest a deeply disturbed psyche, though not necessarily a madman.
When the pensioner appeared in court accused of attempting to assassinate the Slovak prime minister, The Mail on Sunday had exclusive access to his literary works.
The rambling collection reveals Cintula’s thoughts on topics ranging from the state of his country to pornographic fantasies.
At first glance, much of this appears to be political mumbo jumbo. However, after the 71-year-old allegedly expressed his frustrations with last Wednesday’s violent attack on Premier Robert Fico, they may be seen in a sinister new light.
The cover of his 2010 novel Posolstvo Obete, which translates as The Message of a Victim, features blood-spattered banknotes. The 141-page story presents impenetrable prose about a murder that occurred during the Soviet era. Cintula lived half of his life under communism in Czechoslovakia before the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
The pensioner (in the center of the photo) appeared in court accused of trying to assassinate the Slovak prime minister. The Mail on Sunday had exclusive access to his literary works.
The poems and writings of alleged gunman Juraj Cintula (pictured) suggest a deeply disturbed psyche, though not necessarily a madman.
The cover of his 2010 novel Posolstvo Obete, which translates as The Message of a Victim, features blood-spattered banknotes. The 141-page story features impenetrable prose about a Soviet-era murder.
Another tome, featuring a pornographic illustration of a naked dominatrix clutching a dead bird by the neck, will no doubt keep psychiatrists busy for hours.
Another tome, featuring a pornographic illustration of a naked dominatrix clutching a dead bird by the neck, will no doubt keep psychiatrists busy for hours.
This 2007 book is titled Diptych or Double Painting, with the subtitles Bitkarova Bolest – Pain Of A Fighter – and Erotika. Does this book have a double meaning and offer any insight into what happened last week? At the library in Levice, Cintula’s hometown, where the books were revealed to The MoS, academic Anna Medzihradska shrugged her shoulders. She said: ‘I’ve read them all. And I have spoken many times with its author. I honestly don’t know what they mean.
Every month for several years, she, Cintula and about 30 other members of the Rainbow Literary Club would gather for tea and cookies in the wood-paneled library. Its members are avid readers and authors, of varying success.
Before the revolution, Cintula, who wrote his first romantic poem at age 17, according to his library’s propaganda, was unable to publish any of his critical writings.
But while some of his turbulent works serve to mystify rather than inform, there is little doubt about his anthology Dream of a Rebel, which is filled with rage and revolutionary zeal. The verses of one poem seem prophetic: “In my dreams, the police were looking for me… I dreamed of riots… they beat me… people judged me… I will no longer cry for the shackles, I will cry for the dead” .
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (pictured) is fighting for his life in hospital following an assassination attempt on Wednesday.
The Velvet Revolution of November 1989 marked the end of four decades in which Czechoslovaks endured the miserable yoke of Soviet-style communism.
Juraj Cintula, 71, is a writer and founding member of a literary club. His son was quoted as telling local media: “I have no idea what the father intended, what he planned, or why it happened.” Maybe there was a short circuit.
Graphic depicting the events following the shooting of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Security officers rushed to tackle the shooter, Juraj Cintula, 71, from Levice, to the ground.
The gunman is allegedly Juraj Cintula, 71, who was arrested at the scene.
The prime minister was shot in Handlova, northeast of Bratislava, in the central European country.
Supporters and sympathizers of Slovakia’s prime minister place flowers in front of the FD Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, on May 18.
After the assassination attempt, Cintula was seen calmly answering questions at a police station, sporting a bruise on his forehead and stating that he “did not agree with the government’s policies.”
The married father of two exasperated his book club mates by talking endlessly about politics, and finally stopped attending in 2019. Slovak author Janka Bernathova said she told Cintula: ‘Juraj, open those clenched fists, free them and accept God through you. prayer. And she then told me: ‘God took my brother from me.’ He had a twin brother who died when he was just a teenager.
Whether or not he followed their advice, Cintula turned to a far-right group, Slovenski Branci. He was pictured standing next to his paramilitary-style members and apparently attempted to recite some of his poetry. Peter Svrek, a member of the group, recalled that after half an hour, Cintula left and never attended another event.
However, he seemed increasingly desperate to have his voice heard. Since campaigning for union rights as a miner in Handlova in the 1980s – risking the wrath of the Czech state, whose notorious secret police, the StB, kept a file on him – he has been outspoken against corruption for decades.
After divisive, pro-Putin Prime Minister Robert Fico won a fourth term last September, Cintula’s anger soared. He could be found shouting profanities outside government meetings.
For those who know him, the events of last week were the culmination of a lifetime of bitterness toward the political elite and their failure to build a just society after the fall of communism. It remains to be seen whether his mind is irrational or simply tortured.
