The defendants of the so-called case of “Death-Truck of Parndorf” has spoken on the “right of  last word”

The second instance hearing in the so-called case of „Death-Truck of Parndorf” has been continued with the last-word-statements of the defendants on 14th June at the Regional Court of Appeal of Szeged. The 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, and 14th defendants, who were not involved in the transport of Parndorf made a full confession and expressed his deepest regret in the felony of continuous man-smuggling. These defendants emphasized, that they had been not participated in the transport of Parndorf. According to their statements, only the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendant had been involved in the homicide of 71 people. Also, they asked for mitigation of their imprisonment.

The hearing is going to be continued with the publish of the final judgement on 20th June (Thursday).

Dear Editorial Staff,

Registration for the next and final hearing day (20th June) is required!

With respect to the great public interest connected to this criminal case, for those editorial representatives, who have been not registered yet, the registration for the final hearing day is reopened.

The registration can be sent by e-mail to the following e-mail address: batyiz@szegeditb.birosag.hu.

The registration contains the following matters:
naming the interested editorial staff (number of participants),
how many cameras will be used?

The deadline for registration: 18th June 2019 (Tuesday) 14:00.

The registered staff should be appeared at the building of the court until 8:15 o'clock.

The antecedents of the case

Austrian police officers in the morning of the day of 27th August 2015 kept a check on a cooling truck, which was parked alone in a lay-by of the A4 motorway near Parndorf, Austria. 71 deadly bodies (including the bodies of 8 women and 4 children) were found in the boot of the truck. According to the opinion of the medical experts most of the victims had been died in the truck in the territory of Hungary in the morning of the day before, when the victims had been transported from Southern Hungary (nearby the area of Mórahalom) to Austria. Previously, the vehicle had been bought in Lajosmizse, Hungary.

When the man-smugglers realised the deadly consequences of their transport, escaped and left the truck on the motorway alone.

The first instance proceeding was held by the County Court of Kecskemét. The trial began on 21st June 2017, and the appealable judgement was published on 14th June 2018.

The 1st defendant, who is an Afghan citizen, and the 2nd-3rd-4th defendants, who are Bulgarians were found guilty because of the felony of homicide and continuous man-smuggling. Also, the 5th-14th defendants were found guilty because of the felony of continuous man-smuggling.

The first instance court found, that the criminal offences were committed in a criminal organization.

The 1st-2nd-3rd-4th defendants were sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment. The 5th-14th defendants were sentenced between 3 to 12 years of imprisonment.

The 7th and 12nd defendant are still a fugitive from justice, whereas the 14th defendant has been arrested in France during the second instance proceeding.

According to the judgement of the first instance court, the criminal organization was functioned between the period of February and August of 2015. From June the organised man-smuggling became widespread. The illegal cross-borders were crushed into small vehicles, and the perpetrators transported them in cruel and inhuman conditions.

The defendants and their defending counsels in their legal remedies have filed for acquittal and secondly for the mitigation of the punishment. The public prosecutor have appealed against all of the defendants to the aggravation of the imprisonment.