Grants Awarded

07 November 2002

• In June 2002, the ERRC awarded Mr Molchanov (Yaroslavl, Russia) a grant to represent Mr K.N. in legal proceedings. Mr K.N.'s wife, Ms F.A., a 22-year-old Romani woman who was accused of pick-pocketing died while in detention at the police station. According to the official version of events, she jumped or fell out of a third-floor window at the police station during interrogation. The woman's relatives do not believe she jumped out of the window, and think she was murdered by police officers.
   
• In July 2002, the ERRC awarded Mr Fussi (Florence, Italy) a grant to represent S.M. and others in legal proceedings. The clients are a group of Roma living in the unauthorized Masini camp in Florence, Italy. All of them have residence permits in Italy. The Romani families tried to build houses on the campsite but were indicted for building in an unauthorized area. They are facing a lengthy trial, which might conclude with a guilty verdict and a fine. A guilty verdict would likely serve as justification for eventual deportation by the Italian authorities.
   
• In October 2002, the ERRC awarded Mr Ahmedovski (Delčevo, Macedonia) a grant to represent R.A. and O.D. in legal proceedings. On February 10, 2002, the clients were shopping in a store in Kočani. Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, the shopkeeper allegedly started verbally abusing Mr R.A. and Mr O.D. She made a point of expressing her strong anti-Romani sentiments and resorted to rude and insulting language. This happened in the presence of many people and whilst Mr R.A. and Mr O.D. were engaged in a discussion with the shopkeeper. In the meantime, a member of the shopkeeper's family called the police. As Mr O.D. wanted to leave the store, he was suddenly hit on his head with a hard object and fell unconscious onto the floor. While Mr R.A. was helping him to stand up, a police van arrived with 8 police officers. The officers immediately applied physical force toward Mr O.D. even though he offered no resistance. Then he was taken to the police station where police officers reportedly physically abused him for hours. They kicked him and beat him with truncheons all over his body. His request for a lawyer was reportedly denied.
   
• In August 2002, the ERRC awarded Mr Furmann (Miskolc, Hungary) a grant to represent J.B. in legal proceedings. On 25 May 2002, J.B. went to the Thomas Disco. After some time, the guard approached him and ordered him to leave the place. He asked J.B. to look around to see whether he could see anybody from his "race". He explained to the young man that no Roma are allowed to come in and stay in the disco. Since he also used threatening words, J.B. left the place and called his parents. The parents first asked the guard about the incident. The guard explained to them that nobody from "their race" was allowed to enter. The same night J.B.'s parents reported the case to the police. The following day the police forwarded the case to the Town Court, arguing that defamation cases do not come within the scope of the police.
   
• In August 2002, the ERRC awarded Mr Hrubala (Banská Bystrica, Slovakia) a grant to represent Ms M.M. in legal proceedings. The grant pertains to a police brutality case in which a Romani man died in police custody. The Slovak court found the police officer guilty and now the lawyer represents the widow in civil proceedings and seeks compensation for damages.
   
• In September 2002, the ERRC awarded Ms Bodrogi (Nagykáta, Hungary) a grant to represent B.B. and others in legal proceedings. On June 24, 2002, two U.S. citizens (one of them of Indian origin) and their two Hungarian friends went to a club called M4 Music Club. They were already inside, when a security guard approached them and said that Roma were not allowed to enter and stay in the bar. The girls informed the guard that their friend was not Romani. On July 16, 2002, NEKI "tested" the bar with two Romani and three non-Romani testers. The Romani testers were refused entrance whereas the non-Romani testers were all let in. The bar owner was standing at the entrance and after a while she also joined the conversation. She explained to the testers that they do not allow entrance to Albanians, Turks, Romanians, Arabs and "of course" Roma.
   
• In October 2002, the ERRC awarded Ms Tatar (Târgu Mureş, Romania) a grant to represent Mr C.D. in legal proceedings. On June 25, 2001, he was working in a cherry orchard with other Romani individuals, when the supervisor forbid him to harvest in a specific place where only non-Roma were working. The supervisor had reportedly ordered the Roma to work in the most difficult area, so Mr C.D. started to argue about it. The supervisor subsequently called the police and two police officers came from the village. One of the policemen, whose name is known to the ERRC, asked Mr C.D. to step out of the line and started to strike him. He then pushed Mr C.D. into the police car. Mr C.D. was taken to the police station where officers reportedly beat him until he passed out. Instead of calling a doctor, the policemen poured water on him.