The mostly foreign anti-fascists organized a manhunt in the Hungarian capital in February.Continue reading
There is no ideology that could justify the “manhunt” carried out by antifa terrorists on the streets of Budapest a year ago, the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Bence Rétvári recalled that the members of the group of about 20 foreigners attacked their victims, selected at random or by their clothing, in broad daylight in the public spaces of the capital, from behind in a “vile manner.”
They used vipers to hit their legs, punched and kicked people who were lying on the ground, causing 2-7 cm long lacerations, broken fingers and forearms, concussions, fractures of the eye sockets and sinuses, bruises and contusions, then sprayed them with gas and quickly fled.
One of the victims, for instance, was hit 13 times on the head,”
the State Secretary said.
He recalled that the victims were Hungarian, Polish, and German citizens who were calmly walking in busy public areas. “It is unacceptable to beat people up in broad daylight in the street…,” emphasized Rétvári. He stressed that violence is inherent to the antifa movement, that its activists think they are free to use violence and that their aim is anarchy, to dismantle the current social order.
Photo: MTI/Bruzák Noémi
The Hungarian government is on the side of law-abiding citizens and victims, and it is unacceptable that antifa activists from abroad come to Hungary to commit such attacks, the state secretary underlined.
He noted that
the preparations “from the antifa side” were similar this year, but thanks to the police force’s precautions, a similar incident was prevented and everyone was safe on the streets of Budapest.
János Zoltán Kuczik, Deputy High Commissioner of the National Police, said that 17 of last year’s perpetrators had been identified and were being prosecuted.
This year, there were increased controls in the capital during this period; from last Thursday, police were present in large numbers at more than ten locations, but they also checked the underpasses and the nightclubs frequented by extremist radical groups, and also carried out surveillance via CCTV cameras, he noted. He added that as last year’s perpetrators were foreign nationals, this year the police were cooperating with their foreign counterparts.
Five events were reported this year in connection with the Day of Honor, two were banned and three were secured, with more than 300 people arrested, most of them foreign nationals belonging to radical groups, the Deputy High Commissioner said. Five people were arrested for possessing knives, pepper spray, and firearms. Thanks to the increased police presence, there have been no violent incidents in the capital this year, added Kuczik.
Video footage of last year’s brutal antifa attacks was also shown at the press conference.
Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Bruzák Noémi