Protest planned in northern town after Kepiro acquittal

A protest has been announced for Sunday in Novi Sad, after a Hungarian court set free a member of the country's WW2 fascist forces, charged with war crimes. Sandor Kepiro, a member of the Hungarian Gendarmerie in occupied WW2 Serbia, stood trial accused of taking part in the 1942 executions of Serb, Jewish and Roma civilians in Novi Sad, in a massacre that lasted for three days. Protest planned in northern town after Kepiro acquittal The Novi Sad Raid claimed the lives of at least 1,246 people in the town - 168 of them children - while some estimates say that the overall number of victims in the Sajkacka District reached around 4,000 people. The Budapest court, however, set Kepiro free citing a lack of evidence. But the Holocaust Memorial Society said its protest on Sunday would be held under the slogan, "He is guilty!" The society announced that citizens of Novi Sad of all ethnicities urged them to call the protest, outraged by the ruling, which they said showed a demeaning attitude of the Hungarian judiciary toward the Novi Sad Raid victims. The protest will be "exclusively civil in nature", and aimed against the fascist ideology that had led to the massacre. "The Budapest court ruling set free the evil genie of the past, which is turning into a new threat for the nations of the region," the society said in its announcement. Meanwhile, Novi Sad Mayor Igor Pavlicic reacted to the Kepiro judgment by saying that it represented "a horrible insult to all the victims of the crime". "If such a ruling is confirmed by a second-degree court in Hungary, it will represent a victory of injustice and impunity for a horrifying crime which brought misery upon Novi Sad and the effects of which we feel to this day," said Pavlicic. The mayor also stated that "legal means must be invested in order to have Kepiro convicted". Former Novi Sad Mayor Maja Gojkovic also reacted today to say that the acquittal of Sandor Kepiro was "a slap in the face of the victims and their families". Kepiro, now 97 years old, was twice found guilty of participation in the massacre by Hungarian courts, but escaped justice after the war by hiding abroad for many decades until he returned to his homeland in the 1990s, where he was receiving a state pension. It was there that Jerusalem's Simon Wiesenthal Center Director Efraim Zuroff tracked him down five years ago. Serbia subsequently decided to hand over the Kepiro case to Hungary. Now the Center and the Jewish Community of Novi Sad condemned what they described as a shameful first-degree ruling, and expressed hope that Kepiro will eventually be found guilty. The Hungarian Prosecution announced it would appeal the verdict. Simon Wiesenthal Center associate Ana Frankel says the claim that there was no evidence to convict Kepiro was "shameful". She explained that the center, in cooperation with the Serbian authorities, on several occasions submitted incriminating evidence to the Hungarian judiciary. "During the trial, Sandor Kepiro did not deny that he was a Hungarian Gendarmerie captain at the time of the Novi Sad Raid. During the Second World War he was twice found guilty and sentenced for his role in the raid, to escape to Argentina after the war. Does an innocent man run?," Frankel said. She added that the ruling showed the weakness of Hungary as a state, and the current "wrong track" that country was on politically. "We may have lost a battle, but not the war. We will arrive at a point where, in the end, justice will be done. We will not forget the victims," Frankel said. Novi Sad Jewish Community Vice-President Boris Kopilovic meanwhile stated that Jewish societies and communities worldwide will be informed about the Kepiro acquittal, and asked to in turn inform the public about the ruling, which he described as shocking, shameful, and unreasonable. The Novi Sad Raid memorial (Beta, file)

Protest planned in northern town after Kepiro acquittal

The Novi Sad Raid claimed the lives of at least 1,246 people in the town - 168 of them children - while some estimates say that the overall number of victims in the Šajkačka District reached around 4,000 people.

The Budapest court, however, set Kepiro free citing a lack of evidence.

But the Holocaust Memorial Society said its protest on Sunday would be held under the slogan, "He is guilty!"

The society announced that citizens of Novi Sad of all ethnicities urged them to call the protest, outraged by the ruling, which they said showed a demeaning attitude of the Hungarian judiciary toward the Novi Sad Raid victims.

The protest will be "exclusively civil in nature", and aimed against the fascist ideology that had led to the massacre.

"The Budapest court ruling set free the evil genie of the past, which is turning into a new threat for the nations of the region," the society said in its announcement.

Meanwhile, Novi Sad Mayor Igor Pavličić reacted to the Kepiro judgment by saying that it represented "a horrible insult to all the victims of the crime".

"If such a ruling is confirmed by a second-degree court in Hungary, it will represent a victory of injustice and impunity for a horrifying crime which brought misery upon Novi Sad and the effects of which we feel to this day," said Pavličić.

The mayor also stated that "legal means must be invested in order to have Kepiro convicted".

Former Novi Sad Mayor Maja Gojković also reacted today to say that the acquittal of Sandor Kepiro was "a slap in the face of the victims and their families".

Kepiro, now 97 years old, was twice found guilty of participation in the massacre by Hungarian courts, but escaped justice after the war by hiding abroad for many decades until he returned to his homeland in the 1990s, where he was receiving a state pension. It was there that Jerusalem's Simon Wiesenthal Center Director Efraim Zuroff tracked him down five years ago.

Serbia subsequently decided to hand over the Kepiro case to Hungary.

Now the Center and the Jewish Community of Novi Sad condemned what they described as a shameful first-degree ruling, and expressed hope that Kepiro will eventually be found guilty. The Hungarian Prosecution announced it would appeal the verdict.

Simon Wiesenthal Center associate Ana Frankel says the claim that there was no evidence to convict Kepiro was "shameful". She explained that the center, in cooperation with the Serbian authorities, on several occasions submitted incriminating evidence to the Hungarian judiciary.

"During the trial, Sandor Kepiro did not deny that he was a Hungarian Gendarmerie captain at the time of the Novi Sad Raid. During the Second World War he was twice found guilty and sentenced for his role in the raid, to escape to Argentina after the war. Does an innocent man run?," Frankel said.

She added that the ruling showed the weakness of Hungary as a state, and the current "wrong track" that country was on politically.

"We may have lost a battle, but not the war. We will arrive at a point where, in the end, justice will be done. We will not forget the victims," Frankel said.

Novi Sad Jewish Community Vice-President Boris Kopilović meanwhile stated that Jewish societies and communities worldwide will be informed about the Kepiro acquittal, and asked to in turn inform the public about the ruling, which he described as shocking, shameful, and unreasonable.