Assaulted Tökól prison guards: victim awarded 8 million forint damages
Prison guards at Tökól beat an inmate in 2018 so severely that his spleen had to be removed in a life-saving operation. The Metropolitan Court of Appeal has awarded the man from Salgótarján 8 million forint in non-pecuniary damages.
Final damages award for inmate beaten in Tökól prison
An inmate beaten at the Tökól National Prison Service Institute in 2018 is entitled to 8 million forint in non-pecuniary damages – the Hungarian Helsinki Committee announced on Thursday, having represented the victim. According to the final judgment of the Metropolitan Court of Appeal, the Tökól prison must also apologise in writing for the assault.
According to HVG's reporting, Zsolt Sárközi entered prison in 2015, and two years later was transferred to the Tökól institution, where he worked in the prison workshop operated by the state-owned Duna Papír Kft. On 5 September 2018, taking advantage of a quiet period, he fell asleep beneath a printing press on the work site.
The two guards who came searching for him found him lying there, then began beating him with their fists – the blows struck his abdominal wall and stomach area. After the beating, Sárközi immediately reported his pain and did not turn up for work the next day. On 10 September, however, he collapsed during a medical examination: tests revealed that his spleen had been fatally damaged by the beating and had to be surgically removed – the life-saving procedure took place a week after the assault.
The hospital and the victim both filed complaints. Two prison guards were charged; in 2020 they were convicted in a final judgment as accomplices in the crime of causing life-threatening bodily injury and assault committed during official proceedings. Both received suspended sentences.
Experts established Sárközi's health impairment at 13.5 per cent. The four-children father from Salgótarján has seen his employment opportunities significantly narrowed: he can no longer work with drilling machines or scaffolding. Following the assault, he developed PTSD syndrome and requires psychiatric and psychotherapeutic treatment.
To compensate for the harm he had suffered, Sárközi sought an out-of-court settlement with the help of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, but neither the prison service company nor the Tökól prison agreed to it. He then turned to the courts.
"The task of the prison system is to use taxpayers' money not only for punishment but also for rehabilitation, and if the officers representing us commit crimes, fair compensation should follow. We hope that the exemplary judgment resulting from years of litigation will help the prison service in future to settle obvious violations of law out of court," said Tamás Fazekas, lawyer for the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.
Source: HVG