A terrible waste of human potential
Eastern approaches 2013-09-11
Summary:
ROBERT CSORBA grabbed his four year old son Robika and ran for his life when the Molotov cocktail hit their home. They did not get far: both were shot dead as soon as they stepped outside. A Budapest court this week sentenced three far-right extremists to life imprisonment without parole for murdering the Csorbas and four other members of Hungary’s Roma minority in a series of attacks between 2008 and 2009. A fourth member of the group received thirteen years. The four men had admitted their involvement, but had denied murder. They are expected to appeal.
The killings in north and eastern Hungary sent a wave of terror through Hungary’s Roma community, which makes up around 8% of the country’s ten million population. The killers had operated freely for around fourteen months. The police investigation was plagued by incompetence and, say Roma activists, a lack of drive to catch the killers. Only with the arrival of FBI profilers was the case eventually solved.
Laszlo Miszori, the judge, said that the killers regarded themselves as vigilantes, bringing order to lawless communities. The violence has abated in Hungary but is rising in the neighbouring Czech...Continue reading