Published: 11:06, May 18, 2024
Slovak PM Fico conscious after second operation
By Xinhua
Hospital director Miriam Lapunikova speaks during a media briefing, outside the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured on May 15, is being treated, in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, May 17, 2024. (PHOTO / AP)

BRATISLAVA – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is awake and stable in intensive care after undergoing another operation on Friday, but his condition remains "very serious", according to the hospital where Fico is undergoing treatment.
Miriam Lapunikova, director of the F. D. Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystrica, told the media that two medical teams did a five-hour surgery on Wednesday evening and removed dead tissues from gunshot wounds that had remained inside Fico's body.

READ MORE: Slovak leader Fico stable after surgery but condition 'very serious'

The prime minister would have to undergo another operation following a CT scan, she added.
Also on Friday, Slovakia's Specialized Criminal Court received a proposal to take into custody the shooter who heavily injured Fico. 

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, center, speaks with people before the cabinet's away-from-home session in the town of Handlova, Slovakia, moments before he was shot on May, 15, 2024. (TASR VIA AP)

The defendant, identified as Juraj C, is charged with an aggravated murder attempt.
"The prosecutor deems the defendant a potential flight risk and believes that there's also the risk he might continue his criminal activity, hence he pursues both the flight-prevention and preventive custody," said court spokesperson Katarina Kudjakova.

ALSO READ: Slovak president-elect visits wounded PM Fico, calls coalition govt 'solid'
The motion is to be decided on Saturday, said the spokesperson.
President Zuzana Caputova and President-elect Peter Pellegrini will meet the leaders of the parliamentary political parties on Tuesday to discuss the situation following the assassination attempt on Fico.