Hungarian Court Sentences 'Rat' to Life Imprisonment

Budapest, March 31 (TASR – correspondent) – Slovak national Jozef R., nicknamed Potkan (Rat), received a life sentence from a Hungarian Court on Thursday for a bomb attack carried out in Budapest in 1988 and two murders committed in the same city in 1998, TASR learnt on the same day.

According to the first-instance court verdict, the Slovak shouldn’t be eligible for parole for at least 30 years. The verdict isn’t confirmed, however, meaning that an appeal is still possible.

Another defendant identified by the court only as Tamas P. was sentenced to 13 years in jail, while Attila F. and Ladislav T. were exonerated of all charges.

Jozef R. was arrested in February 2011 in Slovakia based on a European arrest warrant issued by Hungary. He’s been in custody in Hungary since April 18, 2011.

On Wednesday (March 30), the Specialised Criminal Court in Banska Bystrica gave Jozef R. another life sentence along with ‘Sykorovci’ gang kingpin Robert Lalis, also known as ‘Kybel’ (Bucket) and Ivan Cuper, nicknamed Vinco (Vince) for six murders committed in 1998-99 and for founding, organising and supporting a criminal group. That verdict isn’t yet valid, either.