Fatal attack against a Roma family in Tatárszentgyörgy

Alert DateFebruary 23, 2009 Country: Hungary Address: Tatárszentgyörgy General Type: Racist violence, Discrimination Racism and discrimination phenomena: Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
Groups affected / Interested in: Roma & Travelers

Related Case Studies

Victims Data
Victims Nationality/Ethnic Origin Hungarian
Victims Gender Female, Male
Victims Age <17, 26-35
Victims Number 4
Fatalities - deaths 2
Perpetrators Data
Perpetrators Nationality/Ethnic Origin Hungarian
Perpetrator Gender N/A
Perpetrator Age N/A
Perpetrators Number N/A
Extremist/Organised Group Violence No

OSCE-ODIHR: "In the early hours of Monday, 23 February 2009, the house of a Roma family in Tatárszentgyörgy, about 40 kilometres southeast of Budapest, was set on fire by a Molotov cocktail. As the family fled from the burning building, which was located at the edge of a group of houses, the perpetrator(s) shot and killed a 27-year-old man and his five-year-old son. The man’s wife and six-year-old daughter, as well as a three-year-old child were also injured in the attack.

Neither the police nor the forensic expert investigating the scene immediately after the attack detected the shotgun wounds on the bodies of the man and his son, and they initially determined that the blaze in the home and the two deaths resulted from an electrical fire caused by an improper, illegal connection to the power grid. As a result, the home and the surrounding area were not declared a crime scene and closed off until later in the afternoon on 23 February. The Director of the National Bureau of Investigation (Nemzeti Nyomozó Iroda or NNI) said that there were clear similarities between this attack and others with Molotov cocktails and shotguns targeting homes on the outskirts of the settlement. The police offered a 10 million Hungarian forint award for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator(s). "

The Tatárszentgyörgy case is considered as one of nine crimes constituting a related series of attacks against Roma, in 2008-2009.

Source:

OSCE-ODIHR: ADDRESSING VIOLENCE, PROMOTING INTEGRATION FIELD ASSESSMENT OF VIOLENT INCIDENTS AGAINST ROMA IN HUNGARY: Key Developments, Findings and Recommendations June-July 2009, Warsaw, 2010, p. 12., see http://www.osce.org/odihr/68545 (Accessed on 24.01.2012)