30. 01. 2005

JOURNALIST ATTACKED

SUBOTICA, January 30, 2005 – Journalist of the Radio Novi Sad Hungarian newsroom and correspondent of the Hungarian Kosut Radio Lorant Hever was attacked in Subotica by unknown assailants. The incident occurred on Saturday at 2 a.m. while the journalist was returning home. As B92 correspondent from Subotica Larisa Inic reported, Hever was approached by three or four men, but could not see their faces in the attack. The motive of the attack was probably the robbery, since the assailants demanded all his money and the mobile phone. Hever said that he was talking on his cellular on the way back home, and was pushed to the ground the moment he hung up. When the assailants demanded to hand them the money and his mobile phone, Hever took out the wallet and gave them 1,000 dinars which he had on him. The young men then verbally assaulted Hever for picking up on a family member of one of the attackers, and questioned his Hungarian ethnicity with harsh words. Despite the verbal incident, Hever did not want to label the attack as nationalistic, since the attackers just wanted the money and took off when he gave them a thousand dinar bill from his wallet. Hever reported the incident to the police, which had arrived to the scene six minutes later. Hever was then medically examined in the Subotica emergency hospital, upon which he submitted doctors’ report to the police.