Hungary: man convicted in bank robbery gets life sentence

An appeals court on Tuesday upheld a sentence of life without parole handed down earlier this year to a man convicted in taking part in a Hungarian bank robbery, in which eight people were killed.The heist took place on May 9, 2002, at a branch of the Austrian-owned Erste Bank in the town of Mor, 65 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Budapest.

According to witnesses, Ede Kaiser stood guard at the bank door, turning people away while the robbery and killings were taking place inside. The robbers escaped with 8.2 million forints (US$39,500, Ђ32,400).

The Budapest Appeals Court also on Tuesday annulled a conviction and 15-year prison sentence against Laszlo Hajdu, who had been accused of helping Kaiser in other crimes.

The appeals court ordered a lower court to reopen his case, and rejected prosecution claims linking Hajdu to the Mor bank robbery. Authorities are still searching for the killers in the Mor robbery case. A.M.