Hungarian man injured in 2006 street clashes laid to rest

László Nagy, a man blinded in one eye in clashes between anti-government protestors and police in the autumn of 2006, was laid to rest in Budapest on Wednesday. He died in early December.

Nagy lost his eye after being hit by a rubber bullet by police at then opposition Fidesz’s commemoration of Hungary’s 1956 revolution.

He reported the incident to the authorities but the Budapest prosecutor’s office dropped the case in 2007, saying the identity of the perpetrator could not be determined.

His demand for compensation was rejected in early 2007. He was later paid 4.5 million forints (EUR 11,300) by police under an out-of-court settlement.

Addressing the funeral, Tamás Gaudi-Nagy, the managing director of the National Legal Defence Service, said there were few victims of the 2006 clashes who had done as much as Nagy had to spread the truth about “how hard the terror of [then PM Ferenc] Gyurcsány came down on commemoration-goers and protestors”.