Time and Date of Violence: 20.6.17 – Between 23:30-1:00 until 5:00
Date of Interview: 21.6.17
Location of Violence: Ásotthalom, Hungary
Demographics: 11 people from Afghanistan, including two 14 year olds and two 16 year olds
Interview conducted in English.
We crossed at 2am. We walked for around 30 minutes, but then police come same as before. There was a man with a beard [goatee] with light brown hair, and a shaved face, but in his beard [goatee] had this [pony tail]. He was wearing a green and brown [camouflage] army outfit. He too much beat us.
First, he came and saw us, then he found a large stick from the forest like this [gestures approx. 5cm diameter] and said, “Welcome.” He beat us for a half hour.
At the beginning we were crying for help, and at this time the families came out of their homes [nearby] and started to watch. Some parents took their small children back inside their homes, but maybe 15-20 other people stood ~50m away and watched as we were beaten. Because it is a small village, everyone knows.
There were also two women with dogs, and one man in police dress. The man in blue police uniform also beat us. After around 5 minutes, 5 cars come. There were people in civilian dress and police. One man from the police came and saw if people were bleeding. Then, he ordered a civilian man to come with water to wash the blood from our faces.
When we were being beaten, 3 people passed out. One 14 year old was covering himself with his backpack as the man with the beard [goatee] beat us, and this man pulled his bag away, and swung the stick like this [using both hands as one would swing a baseball bat] and hit him in the face. After this, he passed out for some time. He woke up, and then was dancing and singing [out of delirium] and police told him to sit down and shut up, but he did not. And we told him also, but he just kept singing and dancing, and he was speaking a language that was not real.
A second man, 27, also passed out from this beating. He was passed out for a long time. When the man with the beard [goatee] finished beating us, he rested on a tree. He told 2 people to move the man who was passed out to a different place. The man with the beard [goatee] told the two women with the dogs to release them, but they refused because there was too much blood. Then, civil police came and asked us for our mobiles and all our personal items. They took photos and returned our items.
They asked questions in English: “Where did you come to Hungary? At what time?” After, they let us sleep for two hours, and we woke up and got into a van. We drove maybe 40 minutes to Horgos camp. There we waited for one hour. Everyone had their photos taken. One from the front, one from each side, and one from the back. Everyone held a number, maybe starting at 1381.
Then they deport us back to Serbia. One Hungarian in police clothes and one Hungarian man in Army dress stand there. We were forced to read a statement, and at the end, it said, “If you wish to file a complaint about a specific officer, then you may do so now.” I said I wanted to file a complaint, but they just said, “go back Serbia.”
The last man they pushed through the gate, the Hungarian in Army clothes hit him on the head with a torch in front of the Serbian police.
