Ukrainian Authorities Seek to Cover Up the Death of Jozsef Sebestyen

Authorities will not launch a criminal investigation will into the death of a Transcarpathian man who fell victim to forced conscription. Before his death, Jozsef Sebestyen gave a statement describing the torture he had endured, and his family also reported his brutal mistreatment, corroborated by photographs. Recordings of the cruelty of his Ukrainian abductors show how Mr. Sebestyen was tortured — causing him injuries from which he died only a few weeks later.

Hungarian national Jozsef Sebestyen (video still)

According to our sources, the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigation will not initiate proceedings into the death of Jozsef Sebestyen. Their position is that there is insufficient evidence to proceed — in other words, not enough proof, in their view, to launch an investigation.

As we have previously reported, Sebestyen, a Hungarian man from Beregszasz, was forcibly conscripted and died as a result of beatings inflicted by recruitment officers. A video has also been made public in which Ukrainian abductors can be seen torturing the Transcarpathian Hungarian man and hurling obscene insults at him. The recording also contains an exchange between the brutal recruitment officers and Mr. Sebestyen. Before his death, the Hungarian national recounted the circumstances of the abuse.

Along with many others, I was taken to a forest, where they began to beat me. The blows were mostly to my head and body. They said that if I did not sign something, they would take me down to ‘zero.’ It hurt a lot; I could not move,

– he wrote, adding that 

Some soldiers threw me into the mud, to sleep there. The next morning they took me to the gate and told me, ‘Get lost, go home.’ I walked back to Beregszasz on foot. I don’t know why, but I ended up in a psychiatric ward, where the police were called.

The 45-year-old Hungarian national from Transcarpathia also stressed that he felt worse with each passing day.

Ukraine Continues to Deny

Despite the accounts given by Mr. Sebestyen and his family, as well as the publicly available recordings, the Ukrainians continue to deny any responsibility for the Hungarian man’s brutal mistreatment and tragic death. Earlier, the Ukrainian foreign ministry had sharply criticized reports in the Hungarian press stating that Mr. Sebestyen’s death was caused by abuse suffered during Ukraine's military mobilisation.

Council of Europe Acknowledges Brutality

The abuses committed by Ukrainian recruitment officers have become systemic and widespread, according to a report published in mid-July by the Council of Europe. The document details the types of violations: physical abuse, violent and unjustified arrests, denial of access to legal counsel, solitary confinement, and even the forced conscription of people with disabilities. In addition, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, has also confirmed the occurrence of serious abuses.

Cover photo: Jozsef Sebestyen (video still)