Cash reward offered for Hungarian police HQ attackers

Unidentified gunmen yesterday fired at the police headquarters on Teve utca in Budapest's 13th District, prompting National Police chief László Bene to offer a Ft 5 million reward to anyone with vital clues on their identities and whereabouts.

The unknown perpetrators fired at least 15 shots from a sub-machine gun - thought to be an AK or AMD type - from an area behind József Attila Theatre, some 160 metres away from the police station. There were no injuries, although a number of windows between the ninth and 13th floors were broken, causing damage of Ft 15-20 million. One shot hit a heating pipe on the ninth floor, and hot water flooded the office of National Police spokesman László Garamvölgyi and his deputy.

"Republican Regiment guards have increased security around Parliament, the Prime Minister's Office, several ministry buildings and the Sándor Palace in Budapest's First District," Garamvölgyi told Magyar Nemzet.

Bene instructed the National Bureau of Investigation (NNI) to begin an investigation. NNI spokeswoman Emese Horváczy refused to discuss details of the probe. If captured and convicted, the culprits could be sentenced to an eight-year prison term.

Police have begun the search for a dark-coloured Volkswagen Golf or Polo which turned from Teve utca onto Róbert Károly körút shortly before the first shots were fired. Detectives have been ordered to question residents of every flat in the neighbourhood, while an overnight security guard at a nearby office block was questioned by police in the morning. Police are also checking the security cameras of shops, offices and petrol stations along Váci út and Róbert Károly körút. Detectives have contacted mobile phone companies to find out who made phone calls at the time the shots were fired.

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány made a one-hour visit to the police station and later told journalists that "the prime minister of the Republic of Hungary must stand by those who were attacked, and Tuesday morning the police, a basic institution of the republic was attacked. This chain of events is becoming more and more radical, and should warn us that one must not proceed further on this path," he said.

Later Justice and Law Enforcement Minister József Petrétei and Bene told a press briefing that he intends to amend the penal code on ensuring more protection for police officers.

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

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