Judge believes policemen who say they've been offended by a Roma woman

RNN, 10 August 1998

The 62 year-old accused couldn't stand it any longer. Half-way through the judge's explanation for his verdict, the woman stormed out of hall 619 of the Nuremberg district court and shouted at the judge. You're right of course. We Roma have all lied and the policemen have spoken the truth. May God bless you.

What had enraged her so much was the upheld verdict against her: 90 days imprisonment and a fine of 30DM per day for resisting the state in its attempt to prosecute her. When the judge spoke of how he simply did not believe that the policemen had sworn at her, saying Hitler forgot to gas you, you pack of gypsies, the woman cried out that's exactly how they said it, as God is my witness. It was a case of their word against hers: two local officers against the defendant and her daughter.

The conflict was ignited when the accused's son was meant to be arrested—he was supposed to pay a 200DM fine for a driving misdemeanour. Police searched for him in his mother's flat, something which led to friction. It is claimed that the woman's left elbow was disconnected when a policeman restrained her. She filed a complaint against the officers, something which was thrown out and then she found herself at the receiving end of legal action.

In court she said I called the policemen racists and bastards only after they had said that I was a gypsy, that I was not fit to be alive. My father was beaten up in Dachau, my five brothers and sisters were murdered in Auschwitz. Her lawyer accused the law of a general tendency to always believe the police and will appeal the decision at Bavaria's highest court.

My client was at first the victim, but now this old, frail woman has been turned into the sole culprit. On this occasion, the police totally disregarded the basic tenant of moderation in their dealings.

Public prosecutor Gerd Schäfer has also accused the Nuremberg police of mistakes. When the squad searched the defendant's house, her son had already phoned the police and paid his fine. During the trial, one of the policemen voiced his doubts about the doctor's diagnosis of a dislocated elbow, saying it didn't stop her from using both hands to make a phonecall.