Hungary to compensate wrongful attempted murder conviction of three Roma people

Three Roma people who were wrongfully convicted of the attempted murder of a Roma family in 2008 are to be compensated. At the close of 2008, someone threw Molotov cocktails at the home of a Roma family in the village of Tarnabod in north-eastern Hungary. Four people’s lives were at risk, but fortunately no one died. Police arrested three Roma youths and charged them with attempted murder.

The youths were subsequently convicted and spent 11 months in prison. In the meantime, police arrested the real perpetrators of this attack and others committed against other Roma families. A total of six people died as a result of this series of anti-Roma attacks.

The decision to compensate the innocent Roma youths was made by the Heves District Court in the town of Eger. The Roma youths will receive compensation in the amount of several million Hungarian forints.