ETHNIC-HUNGARIAN SLOVAK RESPONDS PUBLICLY TO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRATISLAVA 000764 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS BUDAPEST FOR ERIC GAUDIOS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV HU LO SUBJECT: ETHNIC-HUNGARIAN SLOVAK RESPONDS PUBLICLY TO POLICE ALLEGATION SHE LIED ABOUT A RACIALLY-MOTIVATED ATTACK REF: A. BRATISLAVA 733 ¶B. BRATISLAVA 754 BRATISLAVA 00000764 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. During a September 13 news conference, Hedviga Malinova, a Slovak student of Hungarian ethnicity, stuck firmly to her claim that she was verbally and physically attacked by two youths on August 25. (Ref A) She contradicted the conclusion drawn by PM Fico and Interior Minister Kalinak that she only pretended to have been attacked for personal reasons. (Ref B) Pol FSNs who watched Malinova,s press conference described her as looking credible, but Kalinak told the Ambassador September 13 that he is absolutely convinced the forensic evidence backs him up (see paragraph 13). Kalinak and President of the Police General Jan Packa defended the police investigation and accused the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK) and others of seeking to politicize the issue and discredit Slovakia, the government of Slovakia and the Slovak legal system. The stakes of this are extremely high for the Slovak governing coalition if Malinova,s story proves to be true, as officials at the highest possible level are out on a limb. If the government is proven correct, it can help them with their problems in the EU. End summary. ¶2. (U) Malinova, an ethnic Hungarian student of German and Hungarian at Nitra University, spoke at a press conference on the Slovak news channel TA3 on September 13. (The text of Malinova,s statement follows in paragraph 11.) She was accompanied by her lawyer, the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK) MP Gabor Gal. Malinova and Gal spoke in Slovak for the first hour of the press conference then switched to Hungarian for an additional half- hour devoted to the Hungarian press. FSN staff said that both Hedviga and Gal were more fluent, credible and at ease in Hungarian. It was evident that Slovak is not the native language of either, and pol FSN said their statements could have sounded less convincing in Slovak than they did in Hungarian. ¶3. (U) Malinova was nervous and anxious when describing some sections of the attack, and at times could not answer questions as she appeared to hold back tears, finally openly weeping. She said she does not recall every detail of the attack, because she was scared to death and wanted to do 
everything she was told to do by the two culprits. ¶4. (U) Malinova said her attackers may have overheard her speaking Hungarian when she gave directions to a young couple in a car with Hungarian plates. (Comment. Originally Malinova had told police that her attackers had overheard her speaking Hungarian on her mobile phone. The fact that phone records showed no calls had been placed to or from her mobile on the morning of the attack was one of the principle pieces of evidence cited by investigators and Kalinak on September 12 when they accused her of fabricating the incident. End comment.) Gal added that he will post a message in Hungarian and Slovak media asking the couple to whom Malinova gave directions to come forward and attest to her story. ¶5. (U) Malinova said she would not have gone public if the police did not threaten to charge her for lying and filing false charges. She said that on September 9, police picked her up at her house and told her she would confront the alleged culprits. Instead, the police brought her to a station and questioned her for six hours. She insisted the police pressured her to withdraw her charge, and said that if she did not she would be imprisoned. ¶6. (U) Malinova said that after the attack, she went to her university where her teachers took pictures of her injured face and encouraged her to inform the media. Gal stressed that the police never took any official pictures of her injuries after the attack. She claimed that she never lied and everything happened as she described it. (Comment. A Slovak tabloid referred to Malinova as a liar in a front page story. End comment.) With the help of a psychiatrist Malinova said she was able to recall several details that she could not recall immediately after the attack. ¶7. (U) Gal mentioned three medical reports documenting her injuries and expressed his surprise that the director of Nitra hospital, after first confirming her injuries, later on played down the facts about her injuries. According to Gal, all three reports indicated injuries including a brain concussion, swollen and bruised right side of face, a broken upper lip and bruises on her thighs. He added that surprisingly enough, the police called a legal expert-traumatologist only ten days after the attack when most of Malinova,s injuries had already healed. According to BRATISLAVA 00000764 002.2 OF 003 the earliest medical report, a brain concussion together with shock could have caused Malinova to suffer amnesia. ¶8. (U) Gal also alleged that the police never took Malinova to the site of the incident and never tried to reconstruct the attack. In his view, the police closed the investigation after two weeks, which is unusual fast to do it without seeking further evidence. He went on saying that it is absurd that the police reversed the charge, attempting to turn her from the victim to an offender. Also, Gal claimed that the police never tried to inspect her skirt, panties or shoes that may have born signs of clay or weeds. Both Gal and Hedviga denied the charge made by Kalinak on September 12 that the graffiti on her blouse had been written in her own hand. Malinova said she does not recall when her attackers painted &Hungarians below the Danube8 and &Slovakia for Slovaks8 on her blouse. When asked how come her blouse bore no signs of dirt although she had been thrown to the ground, Malinova could not offer an explanation. ¶9. (U) With respect to an envelope, in which Malinova,s personal documents were returned to her home address, and which a later DNA check indicated she had sealed herself, Malinova said she received the envelope with her ID and other documents, took them out and used the envelope as a folder for other papers. She later dumped the envelope in a waste basket where the stamp fell off. After a few days, she reported this to the police, who asked her for the envelope with the stamp. She search for both in the basket and licked the stamp to reaffix it to the envelope. ¶10. (U) Gal stated his main goal is to make the police continue a proper investigation and seek the truth. ¶11. (U) Malinova,s made the following statement, as translated by FBIS (EUP20060913950039 Bratislava TA3 Television in Slovak 1208 GMT 13 Sep 06): "On 25 (August) I was going (to the Faculty of Central European Studies of Nitra University) to take part in an Hungarian-language end-term exam...I was first approached in English, asked whether I could speak English. I said no. Then German. I said yes, I can speak German but I also speak Hungarian. They asked how to get to Nove Zamky (a town in southern Slovakia). I gave them the information...I continued on my way. Suddenly I heard somebody shouting at me "In Slovakia speak Slovak". And then again, "Slovak in Slovakia". I turned round and I saw two boys, young boys. They were around 20-22 years old. They came up to me and asked me whether I had not heard what they told me, whether I am deaf or stupid or whether I cannot speak or hear. I told them that yes, I did hear and I did understand what they had told me and that they should leave me alone as I did not do anything to them. They asked me where I was going. I told them that I was going to the faculty to pass and exam. They told me: You will no longer go anywhere today. They pulled at my hair and that is probably when I also received a blow (in face). My nose started bleeding...I do not remember all they told me but I remember clearly that they ordered me to take off my jacket, tights and to take off my earrings. I was very scared and I did all they ordered me to do. Then I felt a kick in the belly. And before that they slapped me several times. I fell to the ground... I remember laying in the grass, being terribly cold...Then (I remember) running. I do not know where, I just keep running...My blouse is torn, I have blood all over me, on my chest..." GOVERNMENT STICKS TO ITS STORY -------------- ¶12. (U) In a press conference at 5:00 PM local time on September 13, Kalinak and Packa accused Gal, SMK and other of seeking to politicize the issue. They defended the police investigation and the results as they had announced them on September 12, and said that the case will not be reopened. ¶13. (SBU) Ambassador raised our concerns about this case again with Kalinak on September 13. Kalinak stood firmly by his story, arguing that the facts were clear and there was no doubt Malinova made it up. Ambassador urged Kalinak, notwithstanding the facts, not to demonize the girl, and said the government is loosing the P.R. war. The Ambassador urged Kalinak to hold a private audience with SMK to present the facts. Kalinak admitted that he had tried this approach with SMK leader Bugar three times, with limited success. Ambassador urged Kalinak to respond vigorously to future attacks, and Kalinak noted that the government response to the Nitra case had given them tremendous knowledge about extremism in the region and that they even now know the BRATISLAVA 00000764 003.2 OF 003 Daniel Tupy killers and were awaiting further evidence before charging them. (Comment. Daniel Tupy was an ethnic-Slovak student beaten to death in November 2005 in Bratislava. End comment.) ¶14. (SBU) Post is actively engaging GOS and other concerned parties on this extremely sensitive issue and will keep the Department informed of developments. VALLEE