Lower sentence for Dutch athlete's drug trafficking at Sziget

A Hungarian court of appeal sentenced Dutch athlete Roelf B. and his friend Gert-Jan N. to four years in prison for drug trafficking at music festival Sziget in Budapest. The sentence is lower than the five years they got when this case was first tried, RTV Noord reports.

The appeals court lowered the sentence because of extenuating circumstances. B. and N. were pleasantly surprised by the verdict, lawyer Peter Enzol, who represents N., said to the broadcaster.

The verdict is final, which means that the two Dutch men can now ask to be transferred to a Dutch prison to serve their sentence. Usually, the verdict is converted to Dutch standards, which in practice often means a lower sentence. 

B. and N. were arrested at the Hungarian music festival in August 2019 after they were caught selling drugs from their tent. The police found 5 thousand printed price lists on them, as well as almost 2,700 ecstasy pills and 20 kilograms of joints in their tent and a nearby van. According to the Hungarian authorities, the drugs had a street value of some 300 thousand euros. 

In court, the young men's lawyers argued that they were not villainous drug criminals, but two naive kids with a bad idea. They were 21 and 22 at the time of their arrest.