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They were choosing people to slap with no reason, it was like a game for them

Date & Time 2022-08-29
Location Near Asotthalom Station
Reported by No Name Kitchen
Coordinates 46.18608885, 19.79447636
Pushback from Hungary
Pushback to Serbia
Taken to a police station yes
Minors involved yes
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 16 - 33
Group size 20
Countries of origin Syria
Treatment at police station or other place of detention photos taken, no translator present, denial of access to toilets, denial of food/water
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 4
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), kicking, pushing people to the ground, destruction of personal belongings, theft of personal belongings
Police involved 4 Hungarian border officers, dark blue uniforms, 2 police cars, 1 white van

On Monday, the 29th of August, a group of 20 people from Syria, out of which 15 were minors aged 16 to 17 years old, got pushed back from Hungary to Serbia.

The group jumped over the fence that divides Serbia from Hungary. The respondent recalls they walked for 500 meters and hid sitting in the same place for 2 hours, before walking for another kilometer. They were then apprehended between Kis Sori Csatorna River and the border fence by four men in dark blue uniforms the respondent identified as Hungarian police officers, driving in 2 police cars. While the officers were reaching the spot by car, the group was still hiding.

When the 4 officers reached them, they put on their hands something the respondent describes as gloves, in order to beat them harder. The group was beaten by the officers, some were punched and some others were hit with batons, as he narrates. Then, the authorities searched inside their bags, where they found their mobile phones and broke them. The respondent reports that on one of their phones there was a video taken before jumping over the fence. When the police discovered the video they repeatedly punched and kicked the owner of the phone and the group members that happened to be close to him. The respondent also recalls power banks thrown away by the officers and 1200€ taken from the bags, 1000€ from one group member and 200€ from another.

After that, the respondent recalls waiting for a vehicle to arrive, while the officers were walking between them choosing people to slap.

“They were choosing people to slap with no reason, it was like a game for them”

The respondent describes a white van that took them to what he refers to as a police station. At the police station, one officer ordered them to sit on the floor and all the officers searched their bags again. The group was brought into a small room, where they were placed in a row.

The respondent reports that a police officer was a video of them inside this room. Eventually, the whole group was driven to the border with Serbia and forced to cross it. They were probably left at the border near Subotica.