"The government is demanding that Slovak authorities investigate allegations of police violence against Hungarians at a Slovak league football match in the ethnic Hungarian town of Dunajska Streda on Saturday.Slovak riot police attacked the Hungarian section of the crowd in the first 15 minutes of the game between Dunajska Streda and Slovan Bratislava, leaving more than 60 injured, one severely.
About 500 hardcore fans from Hungary appeared in the Dunajska Streda stadium on Saturday, several of them wearing national scarves with the word Kitartás (Perseverance), a motto of Hungary’s fascist Arrow Cross movement in late 1944 and early 1945. Others brandished the Árpád flags associated with that regime.
Hungarian and Slovak soccer supporters exchanged insults before the game and the Hungarians sang the national anthem. Barely 15 minutes later Slovak riot police attacked the sector occupied mostly by Hungarian arrivals, beating spectators and pushing them against the fence. Several people lost consciousness, and one suffered a broken jaw and a concussion.
Reports say Slovak police did not take action against Slovak fans who threw smoke bombs and other missiles, but took tough action against ethnic Hungarians and those arriving from Hungary. Stanislav Jankovic, commander of the police unit, said Hungarian supporters had thrown stones at the police and made crude gestures towards them.
Slovak MP József Berényi told Népszabadság that his Hungarian Coalition Party will demand that police leaders explain their actions to the Bratislava Parliament’s domestic security committee.
The Hungarian football fans were released from police custody on Saturday evening. Five Hungarian policemen who attended the soccer game as observers said the police action was exaggerated.
Some 150 people, including members of the Magyar Gárda, held a protest outside the Slovak embassy in Budapest Saturday evening in response to the incident, and burned a Slovak flag. The government condemned the action and police have stepped up checks in Budapest since Sunday. The Slovak foreign ministry also condemned the demonstration.
Demonstrators appeared outside the Slovak consulate in Békéscsaba on Saturday. The local Jobbik chapter also held a protest.
Earlier on Sunday, Fidesz demanded an inquiry about the legality of the police action. The government also expects an answer as to whether methods used by the Slovak police were justified and proportionate, a spokesman said. The National Police have put the same question to their Slovak counterparts.
Slovak deputy prime minister Dusan Caplovic said he wants to meet Prime Minister’s Office leader Péter Kiss to discuss why unidentified people painted the word “Nazis” on signs in ethnic Slovak villages Pilisszántó and Piliszentkereszt, north of Budapest.
Foreign Minister Kinga Göncz discussed the events with her Slovak counterpart Jan Kubis on Sunday."
Source: Hungary Around the Clock.
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03.11.2008