ERRC press release: Legal Action in Slovak Police Killing
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Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 16:30:33 +0300 (EEST)
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Subject: ERRC press release: Legal Action in Slovak Police Killing
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <[email protected]>
ERRC press release: Legal Action in Slovak Police Killing
On October 5, 2001, the European Roma Rights Center filed an
application with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg
against the Republic of Slovakia, relating to the August 1999 death in
police custody of Mr L'ubomir Sarissky, a young Romani man. The
application asserts violations of Article 2 (right to life), Article 3
(freedom from torture and inhuman and degrading treatment), Article 13
(lack of an effective domestic remedy) and Article 14 (discrimination)
of the European Convention on Human Rights.
On the evening of August 12, 1999, Mr Sarissky and a friend were
arrested by police for the "suspicious behaviour" of riding mountain
bicycles. They were accused of theft. At the police station, an
off-duty police officer, Marian Fabian, "volunteered" to take over the
questioning of Mr Sarissky, with whom he had apparently had previous
encounters. During the interrogation, Mr Sarissky was shot in the
abdomen. He later died from his wounds.
During the official investigation, Officer Fabian claimed that he had
left Mr Sarissky alone in his office so that he could write down the
names of the person who gave him the bicycle. When he returned,
according to Officer Fabian, Mr Sarissky hit him from behind, grabbed
his gun, and then shot himself in the stomach. Officer Fabian stated
he took the gun from Mr Sarissky's hand, picked the spent magazine up
from the floor, and reassembled the weapon before carrying Mr Sarissky
out of the office to seek medical assistance. Despite this, a
fingerprint expert was unable to lift any usable fingerprints from the
gun. In addition, investigators waited over 16 hours before taking
firearm residue tests on Officer Fabian's hands. When finally
conducted, these tests showed no trace of residue. Firearm residue
tests on Mr Sarissky taken at the hospital were also negative.
The autopsy report on Mr Sarissky showed, among other things, a torn
eardrum, which "can . . . be caused by injuries during a blow with a
blunt object against the narrower contact area with a soft surface."
Mr Sarissky's widow reported that when she visited him in hospital
after the shooting, he had bruises all over his body, and his face was
very swollen.
In a subsequent reconstruction of the incident with an "actor" playing
the role of Officer Fabian carrying the weapon concealed under his
shirt - as Officer Fabian claimed it had been - it was impossible for
the "actor" playing the role of Mr Sarissky to remove the weapon.
Despite this, Slovak authorities charged Officer Fabian only with a
violation of Section 224, paragraph 2 of the Slovak Penal Code for his
negligence in the course of duty (by not properly securing his
weapon). In a summary procedure before a judge without a public
hearing in October 2000, Officer Fabian was found guilty of negligence
and given a one-year suspended sentence.
Some of the circumstances surrounding Mr Sarissky's death are
chillingly similar to those surrounding the recent death of Mr Karol
Sendrei in the Slovak town of Revuca in July 2001. Like Mr Sendrei,
Mr Sarissky was handcuffed to a radiator in the corridor and was
beaten by police both at the time of his arrest and during his
subsequent interrogation. Further details of the Sendrei case are
available on the ERRC website at:
http://errc.org/rr_nr2-3_2001/snap3.shtml
"The continued police violence against Roma in Slovakia cannot remain
without adequate redress," said ERRC Legal Director Jean Garland.
"Unless investigators and prosecutors start to treat these incidents
as the serious human rights violations that they are, we will have no
option but to seek justice before international tribunals."
Concerns about widespread police violence against Roma in Slovakia
have also been raised by other human rights monitoring bodies,
including the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance
(ECRI), the UN Committee against Torture (CAT), Amnesty International,
Human Rights Watch, and the United States Department of State.
For further details on ERRC action in the Sarissky case, please
contact Mr Andi Dobrushi, staff attorney at the European Roma Rights
Center, at: [email protected]. Further information on the human rights
situation of Roma in Slovakia is available on the ERRC internet
website at: http://errc.org/publications/indices/slovakia.shtml
_____________________________________________
The European Roma Rights Center is an international public interest
law organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal
defence in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the
European Roma Rights Center, visit the ERRC on the web at
http://www.errc.org
European Roma Rights Center
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary
Phone: +36 1 4132200
Fax: +36 1 4132201
_____________________________________________
SUPPORT THE ERRC!
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individual donors for its continued existence. If you believe the ERRC
performs a service valuable to the public, please join in enabling its
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transfers are preferred. Please send your contribution to:
European Roma Rights Center
Budapest Bank Rt.
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1054 Budapest
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