Hungary: Extremist group holds rally

A small extremist group rallied Friday in the Hungarian capital to protest what it said was a rising crime rate. But critics said it was a veiled attack on the country's Gypsies. Hungary: Extremist group holds rally Some 50 members of the Hungarian Guard (Magyar Garda) and around 200 supporters attended the short, torch-lit march to a high school near where an 18-year-old student was attacked last week by a 17-year-old classmate described in Hungarian media as a Gypsy. The victim reportedly suffered a skull fracture and died shortly after returning home. The Guard was formed last year and has about 700 members. Its uniform has elements which resemble those used by the Arrow Cross, a pro-Nazi, World War II militia. Budapest prosecutors have asked a local court to disband the Guard because of legal irregularities. President Laszlo Solyom last month refused to meet with the group, describing an earlier rally as "immensely damaging," saying they created an atmosphere which made it more difficult for Gypsies, or Roma, to integrate into Hungarian society. On Friday, a Guard's official said the anti-crime rally wanted to call attention to "real problems in society ... for which the current political elite is responsible." "We don't aim to solve these problems by violent means and we don't want to be police, that is a duty of the state," Istvan Dosa said. "But there is an ethnic bomb ticking in the country which can explode at any time." After Dosa's speech, a woman read out a list of crimes committed in Hungary in the past months, at least some of which are known to have involved Roma. Some Guard supporters shouted "Gypsy criminals" and "Gypsy crimes" after every description, even though the reader never used those words herself. There are an estimated 600,000-800,000 Roma among Hungary's population of 10 million. They are among the poorest and least educated citizens. While there are no official statistics, UN Habitat, a humanitarian agency, estimated that up to 60 percent of male inmates in Hungarian prisons are Roma. Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky said the Guard's protest was actually aimed at intimidating the Roma living in Budapest "[Friday's] act is aimed against democratic values, human rights, tolerance and the religious and ethnic minorities until now living peacefully in Budapest," Demszky said in a statement ahead of the march. Members of the Hugarian Guard during the rally last night (Beta)

Hungary: Extremist group holds rally

Some 50 members of the Hungarian Guard (Magyar Garda) and around 200 supporters attended the short, torch-lit march to a high school near where an 18-year-old student was attacked last week by a 17-year-old classmate described in Hungarian media as a Gypsy.

The victim reportedly suffered a skull fracture and died shortly after returning home.

The Guard was formed last year and has about 700 members. Its uniform has elements which resemble those used by the Arrow Cross, a pro-Nazi, World War II militia.

Budapest prosecutors have asked a local court to disband the Guard because of legal irregularities.

President Laszlo Solyom last month refused to meet with the group, describing an earlier rally as "immensely damaging," saying they created an atmosphere which made it more difficult for Gypsies, or Roma, to integrate into Hungarian society.

On Friday, a Guard's official said the anti-crime rally wanted to call attention to "real problems in society ... for which the current political elite is responsible."

"We don't aim to solve these problems by violent means and we don't want to be police, that is a duty of the state," Istvan Dosa said. "But there is an ethnic bomb ticking in the country which can explode at any time."

After Dosa's speech, a woman read out a list of crimes committed in Hungary in the past months, at least some of which are known to have involved Roma.

Some Guard supporters shouted "Gypsy criminals" and "Gypsy crimes" after every description, even though the reader never used those words herself.

There are an estimated 600,000-800,000 Roma among Hungary's population of 10 million.

They are among the poorest and least educated citizens. While there are no official statistics, UN Habitat, a humanitarian agency, estimated that up to 60 percent of male inmates in Hungarian prisons are Roma.

Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky said the Guard's protest was actually aimed at intimidating the Roma living in Budapest

"[Friday's] act is aimed against democratic values, human rights, tolerance and the religious and ethnic minorities until now living peacefully in Budapest," Demszky said in a statement ahead of the march.