Zuzana Čaputová has said she got death threats after Robert Fico made ‘unwarranted accusations’ about her

Slovakia’s president, Zuzana Čaputová, a former civil rights lawyer, activist and standard bearer for progressive causes, has sued Robert Fico, the populist head of the country’s main opposition party, for spreading lies about her amid rising tensions before a key parliamentary election at the end of this month.

This week Fico, the former prime minister, got involved in a brawl with a rival and supporters, trading punches and kicks, after he crashed an outdoor campaign event, underlining the increasingly bad-tempered nature of the political struggle in Slovakia.