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City’s mayor faces police charges for organising banned Pride protest
independent.co.uk
Hungarian police have formally proposed that prosecutors press charges against Budapest's liberal mayor Gergely Karacsony.
The recommendation follows his role in arranging an LGBTQ+ rights rally in summer, which transformed into a significant anti-government protest.
On 28 June, tens of thousands marched through the capital.
What began as a banned Pride event quickly swelled into a mass anti-government demonstration, marking one of the most substantial shows of opposition to nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The Chief Prosecution Office of Budapest confirmed that it had received files from the police investigation. It did not specify whether charges would be pressed or their nature.
A defiant Mr Karacsony posted on Facebook on Thursday: "I am proud that I took every political risk for my city's freedom, and I will proudly face the court to defend my own freedom and my city's freedom."
This legal action unfolds after Mr Orban's government steadily curtailed LGBTQ+ rights over the past decade.
Lawmakers passed a controversial March law allowing for the banning of Pride marches, citing child protection.
The new law stated organisers would face a year in jail if they disobeyed and that all attendees would be subjected to facial recognition technology and risk fines of up to €500 (£439).
Critics view this as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of next year's election, anticipated as the biggest challenge to Mr Orban’s rule since 2010.
Mr Orban said in February that organisers should not even bother organising Pride in Budapest this year.
Mr Karacsony then tried to circumvent the Pride march ban by organising it as a municipal event, claiming it needed no permit.
"The Metropolitan Municipality will host the Budapest Pride Freedom Celebration on June 28, the day of Hungarian freedom, as a municipal event. Period," the mayor wrote online at the time.
Police still banned the gathering, arguing it fell under the child protection law. Despite this, the mass march ultimately proceeded peacefully. |
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