Kosice Court Acquitted Police Officers in Case of Bullying Roma

      On Thursday the Kosice City Court acquitted ten police officers in the case of bullying Roma boys, after the Constitutional Court annulled the previous acquittal and ordered the case back to the lower court for a re-trial, TASR learnt on the same day.
        The case concerns the bullying of the boys that allegedly took place in March 2009 at a police station in Kosice. The officers faced charges of misusing powers of public official.
        According to the Kosice City Court, there is not enough evidence to prove that the deed happened. The verdict is not yet final and the prosecutor appealed against it.
        The case goes back to events of March 21, 2009. Six Roma boys, aged 10-16, were brought to the Kosice-South District Police Directorate over allegations that they had robbed an elderly lady. According to a video circulated in the media, the police officers humiliated the boys, forced them to strip naked and slap each other in the face. The prosecutor maintained that the officers had also beaten the children, insulted them and threatened them with dogs. The defendants, nine men and one woman, reject the charges. Six of them still work in the force. (TASR)