European Court of Human Rights rules against Slovakia in case of police brutality against Roma
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which is based in Strasbourg, France, decided yesterday that Slovakia violated the rights of two people harmed by police officers using force during a raid on a Romani community in Moldava nad Bodvou, Slovakia in 2013 because the responsible state bodies did not sufficiently investigate the use of force, which is a violation of the country's international law obligations in the area of human rights. The court awarded each of the injuried parties compensation in the fully requested amount of EUR 20 000.
The incident happened in June 2013, when more than 60 police officers raided the Romani community living on Budulovská Street in Moldava nad Bodvou and physically assaulted approximately 30 people, including children and women. The Counseling Center for Civil and Human Rights (Poradna), an NGO, provided pro bono legal representation for two men who testified they had been subjected to brute force by members of the police both during the raid and at the local police station to which they were conveyed and detained afterward.
