TOL Hungary

Do They Serve and Protect?

June 9th, 2007 by robertnemeth

We serve and protect - this is the motto of the Hungarian police. It seems, however, that there has not been any crime that policemen did not commit in Hungary during the last months, as Austrian daily Der Standard wrote a few weeks ago. Smuggling, bribe, blackmailing, kidnapping, arms-trade, and raping: all these happened in only a few weeks.

During the riots last fall, the police was highly criticized: first for not being able to handle the riot, which led to the occupation of the public television, and then, for stepping up with exaggerated power against the demonstrators.

Then, at the beginning of this year, two men were arrested, and they are accused with the massacre at Mór. Five years ago, two men robbed the bank of this small town, and killed everyone in the building. Finding them is fine, especially because both acknowledge that they were there, but the problem is that one man was already sentenced to life because of the massacre, and another is facing trial. Well, this is rather a problem of the prosecutors and judges - but it turned out, that the man, from whom they had bought the weapons, was a policeman.

And in May, scandals came in a row: some policemen were arrested in a case of bribing. One stole money from a bank during the investigation after Hungary’s first hostage drama for more than 25 years. Two policemen were members of a gang that kidnapped someone and wanted a ransom. Some were arrested because of participating in smuggling. Recently, another one was also arrested for selling ammo.

However, sad it may be, but these are kind of usual stories. But, on the 4^th of May, a 21-year-old girl was driving home when she was stopped by five policemen, members of the riot police. Allegedly, they wanted the fine her because she did not have her seatbelts on. She did not have money, and the policemen said that they had to take her to a blood-test, to get to know whether she had consumed alcohol or drugs. But, as she says, she was taken to a tiny, empty street where one of the policemen forced her to oral sex and another raped her.

She reported it the next day, and an investigation was started. A few days later, she gave an interview, and that was the time when the real scandal broke out. She recognized the policemen who were immediately arrested, and most of the proofs are against them, even though they deny the rape. Now everyone is waiting for the results of the DNA test.

Then the Prime Minister fired the main commander of the police, the commander of Budapest police and the one of the riot police as well. The next day, the minister of justice and law enforcement resigned as well. Nevertheless, some say that it is the system that is deeply rotten, where racism is widespread, and where, although 18 years have passed since the transition, some mechanisms and routines survived. For instance, many policemen think that more things are permitted when someone wears a uniform and many of them not only accept bribing, but often wait and ask for it…

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