Several hundred Hungarians participated on Friday evening in Budapest at a demonstration organized by the opposition Momentum movement to protest against the government’s government bill against the media and civil organizations receiving foreign funds. Referring to the telex.hu server informs the TASR newsletter in Budapest.
“Putin’s best pupil and the Russian puppet government led by him launched a new attack on another basic freedom under the guise of the night. After the collection, they are now attacking the freedom of the press in preparation for manipulation of the elections next year,” the organizers wrote on Facebook in an invitation to the protest gathering.
The street around the sovereignty office was concluded and about 20 police officers provided order at the site of the demonstration.
One of the speakers of the Assembly was the chairman of the Momentum Márton Tompos, who said that this is not just a ban on the Pride march, the suppression of freedom of gathering, or the fate of the press or civic associations, but the future of the country. “Let’s meet on Sunday at Košútovo Square, let’s stop this madness together,” he said at the end of TomPos to participate in another demonstration.
Police have started criminal prosecution against the Momentum activists group, which caused material damage to the building of the Office for the protection of sovereignty on Friday morning. The group of protesters has been exposed to a banner on the building with the inscription: “We wish the freedom of the press”, while at the same time it wiped the board and fencing of the office in the red color and blocked the entrance for a short time.
The government bill “on transparency in public life” would enable the government to intervene in the activities of the media and non -profit organizations believed to endanger the sovereignty of the country. Parliament is expected to approve the proposal next week on Tuesday, writes telex.hu.
The bill was submitted to Parliament on Tuesday by a deputy of the Hungarian government party Fidesz János Halász. In case of approval, he would complicate the work and existence of foreign funding organizations.
The Prime Minister of the Hungarian Government Viktor Orbán was strongly opposed to civil organizations critical to the government, against the journalists of the independent press, against judges demonstrating for the independence of the judiciary and against opposition politicians who are financed from abroad, and announced “spring cleaning”, reminded telex.hu.
