Authorities take steps against an anti-discriminatory disco
Around Ózd County, clubs usually don’t let any Roma in, which seriously violates equal treatment, and is thus illegal. In the summer of 2009, in Borsodnádas, a new club, which was supposed to be accessible to everyone, opened up.
The Mayor’s office ensured the owners of the club that they had operating rights until the kick-off party, but then they never sent out the papers confirming those rights, and instead fined the club-owners 200,000 forints (around 1,100 dollars) as soon as the club opened. Twenty-two policemen appeared at the kick-off party, and broke it up. They brought the VPOP (Hungarian Customs and Finance Guard), Artisjus (Hungarian Bureau for the Protection of Authors’ Rights), Fogyasztóvédelem (Hungarian Authority for Customer Protection) and APEH (National Tax and Customs Administration) with them for the raid. The result of the authorities’ large-scale maneuver was one accusation, namely that of the DJ, who they claimed did not have copyright privileges. The local government and the police later permanently closed the club down, so there still aren’t any discos in the area where the Roma can go to party.
One of HCLU’s own lawyers defended the aforementioned DJ in the case against him. The court of Ózd found our client not guilty!
For English subtitles: start the video and click on the "cc" button!
