DPA
Fri, February 9, 2024
People march on the Chain Bridge during a protest to demand the resignation of Hungarian President Katalin Novak at Sandor Palace. Marton Monus/dpa
Thousands of demonstrators turned out in Budapest on Friday evening to demand the ouster of Hungarian President Katalin Novák over how she handled a pardon in connection with a case involving the abuse of children.
It recently became known that Novak pardoned a man who had been legally convicted of aiding and abetting the sexual abuse of children and young people.
Novák did not give a reason for the controversial pardon. The man she pardoned was the deputy head of a children's home in Bicske near Budapest.
According to the court ruling, he forced children to recant their testimonies as victims of abuse against the director of the home in order to exonerate his boss.
The home director was sentenced to eight years in prison. His pardoned deputy received a prison sentence of three years and four months. The pardon had already taken place in May 2023, on the occasion of Pope Francis' visit to Budapest.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán submitted a proposal to parliament on Thursday evening to change the Hungarian constitution so that in future, criminals whose crimes victimize children should generally not be pardoned.
This was the first time Orbán has ever distanced himself from Novák, the former vice president of his ruling populist national-conservative Fidesz party.
She promised to support the proposed constitutional amendment.
At the close of Friday's demonstration, called by the Momentum opposition party as well as student associations, the angry crowd threw numerous stuffed animals in front of the door of the presidential palace in Budapest's Castle District as a symbol of children in danger.
Fri, February 9, 2024
People march on the Chain Bridge during a protest to demand the resignation of Hungarian President Katalin Novak at Sandor Palace. Marton Monus/dpa
Thousands of demonstrators turned out in Budapest on Friday evening to demand the ouster of Hungarian President Katalin Novák over how she handled a pardon in connection with a case involving the abuse of children.
It recently became known that Novak pardoned a man who had been legally convicted of aiding and abetting the sexual abuse of children and young people.
Novák did not give a reason for the controversial pardon. The man she pardoned was the deputy head of a children's home in Bicske near Budapest.
According to the court ruling, he forced children to recant their testimonies as victims of abuse against the director of the home in order to exonerate his boss.
The home director was sentenced to eight years in prison. His pardoned deputy received a prison sentence of three years and four months. The pardon had already taken place in May 2023, on the occasion of Pope Francis' visit to Budapest.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán submitted a proposal to parliament on Thursday evening to change the Hungarian constitution so that in future, criminals whose crimes victimize children should generally not be pardoned.
This was the first time Orbán has ever distanced himself from Novák, the former vice president of his ruling populist national-conservative Fidesz party.
She promised to support the proposed constitutional amendment.
At the close of Friday's demonstration, called by the Momentum opposition party as well as student associations, the angry crowd threw numerous stuffed animals in front of the door of the presidential palace in Budapest's Castle District as a symbol of children in danger.
Protesters take part in a protest against Hungarian President Katalin Novak decision to pardon a man in a case of child sexual abuse. Marton Monus/dpa
Protesters lay down stuffed animals during a protest against Hungarian President Katalin Novak decision to pardon a man in a case of child sexual abuse. Marton Monus/dpa
Protesters lay down stuffed animals during a protest against Hungarian President Katalin Novak decision to pardon a man in a case of child sexual abuse. Marton Monus/dpa
Orban Moves to Contain Fallout From Pardon in Pedophilia Case
Marton Kasnyik
Thu, February 8, 2024
(Bloomberg) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pledged to change the constitution after a pardon in a pedophilia-related crime sparked opposition calls for the president to resign.
President Katalin Novak, a rare woman in high office in Hungary who was tapped by Orban in 2022 for the largely ceremonial post, pardoned the deputy director of a children’s home last year. He had been convicted in 2019 of coercing children to withdraw testimonies against his boss, who had sexually abused them.
“I submitted a proposal to change the constitution to make it impossible to pardon crimes committed to the detriment of minors,” Orban said in a video on Facebook on Thursday.
A former minister in charge of family policy in Orban’s government, Novak has condemned pedophilia-related crimes but has refused to justify her pardon, citing clemency rules. Hungarian news website 444.hu was the first to report on the pardon last week, which the presidential office hadn’t made public.
Hungarian opposition parties are organizing a protest on Friday in front of the presidential palace to reiterate their call for Novak to resign.
Bloomberg Businessweek
Pressure mounts on Hungary's president to resign over pardon in child sexual abuse case
JUSTIN SPIKE
Updated Thu, February 8, 2024
Hungarian President Katalin Novak delivers his speech during Pope Francis' meeting with the authorities, civil society, and the diplomatic corps in the former Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, April 28, 2023. Pressure is mounting on Hungary’s head of state to resign after it was revealed that she issued a presidential pardon to a man convicted as an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case.
Updated Thu, February 8, 2024
Hungarian President Katalin Novak delivers his speech during Pope Francis' meeting with the authorities, civil society, and the diplomatic corps in the former Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, April 28, 2023. Pressure is mounting on Hungary’s head of state to resign after it was revealed that she issued a presidential pardon to a man convicted as an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case.
(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool, File)
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Pressure is mounting on Hungary's head of state to resign after it was revealed that she issued a presidential pardon to a man convicted as an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case.
Hungary's opposition parties say that President Katalin Novák, Hungary's one-time minister for families and a close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is no longer fit to hold office after she pardoned the former deputy director of a state-run children's home last year.
The man was sentenced to more than three years in prison in 2018 for helping to cover up the sexual abuse committed by the institution's director, who himself was sentenced to eight years for his abuse of at least 10 children between 2004 and 2016.
Novák, who issued the pardon along with around two dozen others on the occasion of Pope Francis' April 2023 visit to Hungary, has denied that she acted improperly and rejected calls for a formal explanation of her decision.
“Under my presidency, there has not been and will not be pardons for pedophiles, as it was in this case,” she said during a news conference on Tuesday.
Novák's office did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.
All of Hungary's opposition parties have called for Novák's resignation. Democratic Coalition, the largest of the parties, has initiated an ethics proceeding against her in parliament.
On Thursday, a Democratic Coalition lawmaker delivered a letter to Catholic Church representatives in Hungary to pass to Pope Francis, saying that Novák had “served sin” by granting the pardon on the occasion of the pontiff's visit.
The lawmaker, Olga Kálmán, said the pardon had expunged the criminal record of the children's home's former deputy director and allowed him to work among children again.
“This pardon means that from now on, he has no criminal record and has not been barred from practicing his vocation. From the moment of his pardon, he can go back to working in an orphanage,” Kálmán told the AP.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, one of the sex abuse survivors, Mert Pop, wrote in a comment that Novák's decision “deprives victims of due justice,” and that “the obscurity surrounding the pardoned offender provokes deep concern among those who have suffered, and in society at large.”
“Confronted with the gravity of the crimes committed, the decision to pardon is unexpected and inexplicable, causing deep pain and disappointment to those affected, further complicating their lives,” Pop wrote. He said he expects an explanation from Novák on behalf of the victims.
As controversy rose on Thursday, Orbán said in a video on Facebook that he had proposed an amendment to Hungary's constitution that would prevent those convicted of crimes against children from receiving presidential pardons.
“There is no mercy for pedophile offenders, that is my personal belief,” Orbán said. “It’s time to settle this issue."
Hungary's former justice minister, Judit Varga, also has come under fire, since her endorsement was required for the pardon to take legal effect. Varga is expected to lead the list of European Parliament candidates from Hungary's governing Fidesz party when elections are held this summer.
Kálmán, the opposition lawmaker, said she thinks Novák and Varga “should not represent me or Hungarians, either in Hungary or abroad.”
A protest against Novák's decision has been called for Friday in front of the presidential palace in Budapest.
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Pressure is mounting on Hungary's head of state to resign after it was revealed that she issued a presidential pardon to a man convicted as an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case.
Hungary's opposition parties say that President Katalin Novák, Hungary's one-time minister for families and a close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is no longer fit to hold office after she pardoned the former deputy director of a state-run children's home last year.
The man was sentenced to more than three years in prison in 2018 for helping to cover up the sexual abuse committed by the institution's director, who himself was sentenced to eight years for his abuse of at least 10 children between 2004 and 2016.
Novák, who issued the pardon along with around two dozen others on the occasion of Pope Francis' April 2023 visit to Hungary, has denied that she acted improperly and rejected calls for a formal explanation of her decision.
“Under my presidency, there has not been and will not be pardons for pedophiles, as it was in this case,” she said during a news conference on Tuesday.
Novák's office did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.
All of Hungary's opposition parties have called for Novák's resignation. Democratic Coalition, the largest of the parties, has initiated an ethics proceeding against her in parliament.
On Thursday, a Democratic Coalition lawmaker delivered a letter to Catholic Church representatives in Hungary to pass to Pope Francis, saying that Novák had “served sin” by granting the pardon on the occasion of the pontiff's visit.
The lawmaker, Olga Kálmán, said the pardon had expunged the criminal record of the children's home's former deputy director and allowed him to work among children again.
“This pardon means that from now on, he has no criminal record and has not been barred from practicing his vocation. From the moment of his pardon, he can go back to working in an orphanage,” Kálmán told the AP.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, one of the sex abuse survivors, Mert Pop, wrote in a comment that Novák's decision “deprives victims of due justice,” and that “the obscurity surrounding the pardoned offender provokes deep concern among those who have suffered, and in society at large.”
“Confronted with the gravity of the crimes committed, the decision to pardon is unexpected and inexplicable, causing deep pain and disappointment to those affected, further complicating their lives,” Pop wrote. He said he expects an explanation from Novák on behalf of the victims.
As controversy rose on Thursday, Orbán said in a video on Facebook that he had proposed an amendment to Hungary's constitution that would prevent those convicted of crimes against children from receiving presidential pardons.
“There is no mercy for pedophile offenders, that is my personal belief,” Orbán said. “It’s time to settle this issue."
Hungary's former justice minister, Judit Varga, also has come under fire, since her endorsement was required for the pardon to take legal effect. Varga is expected to lead the list of European Parliament candidates from Hungary's governing Fidesz party when elections are held this summer.
Kálmán, the opposition lawmaker, said she thinks Novák and Varga “should not represent me or Hungarians, either in Hungary or abroad.”
A protest against Novák's decision has been called for Friday in front of the presidential palace in Budapest.
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