June 26, 2004 is the day since when those Hungarian young men from Temerin have been imprisoned being sentenced for attempted murder and to 61 years in prison. According to the charge, these 5 young men caused serious bodily harm to Zoran Petrović, a Novi Sad resident, in the market place of Temerin on the night of June 25. István Máriás jr. (22) was sentenced to 15 years, Zsolt Illés (26) to 13 years, Zoltán Szakál (25) to 11 years and 6 months, József Uracs (29) 11 years and 6 months, and Árpád Horváth (19) to 10 years of imprisonment. This sentence was confirmed also on the second instance by the Supreme Court of Justice.

1. The circumstances of the incident according to the parents, witnesses and the offended parties

According to the parents, in the early hours of June 26, Zoran Petrović (38) appeared in a condition influenced by drugs and alcohol in Temerin, after participating in a bigger fight in Novi Sad. First, he was at a private house where he started provoking the hosts – intruding into family matters – therefore he was asked to leave. Then he went to the Evergreen, a pub in Temerin, where he initiated a series of incidents: took drinks, cigarette packets from the guests, and those who objected it were insulted by Petrović or he spat into their drinks. It was here for the first time when police assistance was asked for but the police refused to visit the scene not having enough reasons as they said. Then, Petrović started to fight with a person in the pub so he was showed the door. In the streets he immediately found an elderly man to provoke. About 200 meters from the Evergreen is the Kaja, another pub, and during his walk there, Petrović insulted and provoked many groups (no matter to their ethnicity) as the witnesses say. This place, the Kaja is known as the headquarters of drug-dealing and the locals had reported it to the police several times. The parents say that Petrović started provoking the people there, too but he was asked to leave and when he returned he was showed the door again. “As we heard, after this he crossed the street and provoked Zoltán Szakál for the first time,” the parents say. Since Zoltán Szakál could not calm Petrović down, they started grappling. After the incident, Petrović went to the benches on the market place and provoked István Máriás. “This happened on the market place, the place where the young congregate in the evening hours,” the relatives explain.

One of the important facts is that the accused, namely István Máriás, Zsolt Illés, Zoltán Szakál, József Uracs, and Árpád Horváth have not been in the same group of friends. The parents agreed that before the incident, friends were only Máriás and Horváth while Szakál and Uracs only knew each other. When the offended party started a quarrel with István Máriás which turned into a fight, Zsolt Illés approached them hearing the noise, and according to a parent, he said: “If he (that is, Petrović) is insulting the Hungarians, then slam him in my name, too.” As our conversationalists say, this was it then, but Petrović started to insult the under age girls at the market place, to sexually molest them and to insult the Hungarians’ mothers. This caused a new incident. One of the accused, István Máriás demanded from Petrović to take back his insulting words about the Hungarians. Petrović did not want to which started a fight again. By this time, all of them were under the influence of alcohol since they had left their homes drinking beer, wine and brandy in no order. Petrović took off his clothes and in his underpants provoked the young people there, sexually molested the girls, even pulled their hair. One of the girls smacked him. It was not enough to him; he pawed two other under age girls. It could be that this was the time when a bag of drugs (various sedatives, ecstasy) fell out of his pockets and it was immediately eaten up by the young people there. Many witnesses can affirm this, they were speaking about it during the proceedings, but during the trial it was not recorded. As the relatives say, at this time Árpád Horváth and his girlfriend, unaware of the situation, arrived to the scene.

It could be because of the daze or the sexual molesting, but it is a fact that Petrović’s provoking behaviour and words caused a rising indignation and many wanted to persuade him to get dressed. Among them were István Máriás and Árpád Horváth, too. Another scuffle broke out, Petrović pushed Máriás so hard that he fell onto the wall and his hand was hurt. According to Mr Horváth, Árpád’s father, this was the moment when Máriás had enough and a new fight was started. It had an audience of tens (about 50-60) of young people. Later, only four or five witnesses were interrogated by the authorities. There is no answer to the question: “Why?”.

The parents say that Máriás and Horváth left the scene after the fight, and possibly a new group picked a quarrel with Petrović, and then a third one… It cannot be known for sure. The fact is that Petrović fell on the ground but it is impossible to judge whether due to the fights or the influence of drugs and alcohol. (1)