Category: Testimonials

Interview conducted in English.

We crossed at around 11pm. At 2am, police catch. The army catch us first, and then police come. Army not beating so much, then the police beating and kicking. They told us to crouch down like this [fetal position] with our heads to the ground, and they beat us if we moved. We stayed down like this for 2 hours, and they beat us if we moved. After some time, new people [police] come in a car and beat us also during these two hours. Then a second car with police came and they beat [us] again for one more hour. Approximately three hours of beating total. They were also kicking and punching us. Continue reading ““The man they kicked in the penis was vomiting blood””

This series of time-stamped posts are from interviews conducted on the 25th of February with various victims of Hungarian police brutality, during two separate crossing attempts on consecutive nights. They were interviewed and recorded on video by a journalist we have been collaborating with, Jaime Alekos, with the support of a translator who wishes to remain anonymous.

Interviewee: 13 years old from Afghanistan [crossed into Hungary the night of 23 February, 2017]

00:00 – How many people were with you three nights ago and how many policemen arrested you?
00:03 – We were 15 people in our group, they caught us just when we were waiting for the [smuggler’s] car. First, the helicopter came and then four vans of police came while we were sleeping at night.

00:22 – What was the first thing the police did when they saw you?
00:28 – When the police caught us, they sent us to the police station. Once there, they took off our clothes for checking, we were naked. They told us to dress again and they started beating us, too much. After that, they put us in cold water. Continue reading ““[The water] was cold and they threw us inside””