Rape case against Budapest policemen dropped

The Budapest Investigating Prosecutor's Office (Budapesti Nyomozó Ügyészség) has decided to drop the case against policemen accused of raping a young woman in Budapest in May, writes news portal Index.hu. Police could find no evidence to support the accusations. In addition, the case against them for bribery was also dropped due to a lack of evidence. The decision can be appealed against for eight days.

Spokesman Attila Morvai confirmed that a decision had been made but refused to reveal details until all parties were informed. Hungarian state television (MTV) news last night reported that the key evidence had been cellphone calls made at the time of the alleged rape.

The decision to drop the case due to the lack of a crime rather than a lack of evidence is very positive for the suspects, Gergely B., Zsolt F., Gábor R., Péter T. and Tibor I. This outcome allows them to sue their accuser, Zsanett E., the police and the state for compensation.

According to earlier statements, Zsanett's attorney Péter Tuza would still like to take the case to court. This means he will have to prove everything the prosecutor's office could not.

György Magyar, acting as attorney for one of the policemen, told Index.hu after being informed about the decision that, "It is not certain that the result is our success; it could be someone else's failure." He told index.hu that questions raised by the case "have become very hot" and someone might "burn their hands." He added that when the decision to drop the case becomes legally binding in one to one and a half months, proceedings will most likely be launched against Zsanett for false testimony, and the accuser will be sued for compensation.

Attila Mira, the attorney of Gergely B., told the portal that the decision by the prosecutor's office means the five policemen did not rape Zsanett, and she was not forced to engage in sexual activity by anyone at the time and place and in the manner she described.

Károly Papp, commander of Police Security Service (Rebisz), personally handed the decision over to the policemen on Monday at 10 a.m. He congratulated them but will not take them back to work until the decision becomes legally effective. Mira expressed his disagreement with Papp's decision, because it is not certain that their will be no appeal against the decision. The attorney added that the police could be sued for missing wages and benefits, and the state for compensation for having spent one month under preliminary arrest.

• Email
• Save to My Caboodle