In 2008 and 2009, the pre-meditated murder of six romas – of whom one was a five year-old boy – shocked the country. As details emerged, the true monstrosity of these acts came into sharper focus. The assailants had developed maps to guide their actions and staked outthe locations that would become the scenes of their heinous crimes, which were unprecedented in Hungary’s modern history.

“While accepting the fact that we must recognize that the complete truth has not been uncovered, this sentence strengthens my belief that no perpetrators of hate crimes can escape the law in Hungary, and especially savage murderers pay a just penalty for their deeds,” said Zoltán Balog, Minister of Human Resources, after the verdict.

“We must always stand by the victims,” said the minister. “And this is not a question of minority or majority. This is a question of human dignity.”

In 2010, Mr. Balog’s first act as a state secretary for social inclusion was HUF 8.5 million compensation for the victims’ families.

But are we satisfied with the verdict? What does the minister mean by the truth having not been uncovered? Why did the governing Fidesz (Hungary’s largest opposition party prior to 2010) criticize the Gyurcsány-Bajnai government of 2006-2010 for its handling of the murder case? It’s well known that one of those convicted had been closely monitored by the country’s secret services for his extremist activities, and that this monitoring ceased months before the first murders, when the criminals began buying their weapons on the black market. The driver was involved with the secret services of the military as an informant and met an officer even during the killing spree.

The secret services – however successful they were in pinpointing key figures capable of committing such violent acts – erred when they failed to continue surveillance on men already on their radar and then overlooked the killers who emerged right under their noses.

This is an unprecedented case in Hungarian criminal history. The four men were properly dealt with by the Hungarian courts and will no longer be a threat to society. While the victims cannot be brought back, their families will, hopefully, cherish their loved ones in memory. Hungary mourns this tragedy.

Source: A Blog About Hungary

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