The respondent is a 28 year old man from Morocco who crossed into Hungary from Serbia in the early hours of 15th of August. The respondent was sleeping in the forest near the road a kilometer from the border, when he reports that he was apprehended by what he described as five 4×4 vehicles at 10 o’clock in the morning. There were around 18 officers in the vehicles. According to the respondent, the vehicles and officers inside were not Hungarian border forces, but bore ‘NATO’ emblems and flags that resembled the French flag.

The respondent reports that the officers found the informant sleeping and then took turns verbally and physically assaulting him. They swore at him and said bad words, repeatedly sprayed pepper spray directly into his mouth, hit him on the head with their batons, and kicked him. This did not happen just once, but, according to the respondent, the different officers took turns assaulting him in this way, at the same time filming the assault and laughing. The officers also stole his phone and money. Afterwards, they put him in one of the vehicles and drove him to the border fence, where they handed him over to what he referred to as the Hungarian border force. The Hungarian officers took a photo of him and told him ‘Don’t come back, this is my country, go live in your country’. He was then pushed back through the border fence into Serbia.