Hungary’s Independent Police Complaints Authority has concluded that the police had breached rules of conduct when apprehending two men at a commemoration of the March 15 national holiday, according to a report sent to MTI on Thursday.
The authority has received 40 complaints against police action on March 15 which they have investigated and found police at fault on several counts. In the case of the two young men who attended state commemorations and held up a banner with an anti-government slogan, police action was found improper. The two men were taken into custody and held for several hours, which the authority said police had been wrong to do as the men were practicing their right to freedom of assembly and free expression. Police also failed to properly inform the detained of their rights and there were discrepancies in the way they were searched and held at police quarters, the report said.
It added that a copy of the report has been sent to the Minister of Law Enforcement, the National Police Chief and the Constitutional Court for further scrutiny.
