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was verbally and psychologically supported by a group of allegedly drunken non-Roma men.
One of the women suffered a concussion, while another, who was six months pregnant at the
time, suffered other substantial injuries. The men also allegedly made insulting comments about
the ethnic origins of the women. The local police were reluctant to provide assistance to the
female victims. They did not take measures at the scene and failed to write a report on the case.
The officers of the Siófok city police are also said to have reacted only after women brought the
incident to the attention of the national media.
116. Another case of police mistreatment of Roma has been reported as follows. In
December 1998, while preparing to celebrate his birthday, a young Rom went out to the pub next
door to buy drinks with three friends. An off-duty police officer standing in the door of the pub
would not let them in, saying that a private party was being held inside. However, the young
Rom wanted only to buy wine and not to drink at the pub, so eventually he and his friends were
allowed to enter. The dozen policemen inside the pub attacked the four men. Two managed to
escape, but the policemen caught the other two and kicked them. The next day, they went in
uniform to the houses of the young men and brought them to the police station. They were told
that if they reported the event they would get into trouble.
117. On 9 June 1999, the Roma Civil Rights Foundation filed a law suit against unknown
police officers who beat up Lászlo Sarközi, a young Roma college student, in one of the parks in
Budapest and then in the city’s 10th-district police station. According to the victim, he was
walking home when a white car stopped next to him. Three policemen not wearing uniforms
stepped out of the car and told him to show his identity card and to place the contents of his
pockets on the car. He handed them his identity card and gave them the documents he had with
him, which included his poems and his college notes. However, when he refused to let them
read his papers, the policemen threw him to the ground and handcuffed and kicked him, calling
him a “stinking Gypsy” and a “dirty fag”.
118. Roma victims are often unable to obtain adequate remedies for such abuses. The 1997
statistics concerning so-called “official crimes” (i.e. crimes committed by public officials) show
a depressing picture: while there were 386 reports of forced interrogation, policemen were taken
to court in only three cases and charges were pressed only in a further 38 cases. In 142 cases,
investigation into the incidents was denied and in 202 cases it was terminated. In summary,
89 per cent of the reports ended without indictment. In the case of ill-treatment, the figures are
as follows: 843 reports; 276 denials of investigation; 448 investigations terminated; altogether
86 per cent of the cases ended without indictment. The figures for unlawful detention are as
follows: 66 denials of investigation; 86 investigations terminated; altogether 87 per cent of the
cases ended without indictment. All in all, approximately 3 per cent of cases brought against the
police actually led to convictions. In the few cases where police officers were convicted, the
penalties were usually fines, probation or suspended sentences, and the police officers generally
remained on the force.
119. On 11 January 1999, in Hajdúhadház, in north-eastern Hungary, on the pretext of a police
measure, two juveniles, Attila Rezes and Ferenc Vadász, were seriously injured. As a
consequence of the assault, the 16-year-old Attila Rezes suffered a dangerous cerebral lesion and
only quick medical intervention saved his life. It has been reported that the police officers from
the police station in Hajdúhadház district have been particularly violent to people of Gypsy