04 September 2007
Hungary’s far-right paramilitary Magyar Garda [Hungarian Guard] has threatened to sue the government for ‘slander’. Speaking at a news conference, the leader of both the far right Jobbik party and Magyar Garda, Gabor Vona, said "We are neither Nazis nor fascists nor a paramilitary group and reject the slander". He added that the Guard was legally registered in the courts, operates within a legal framework, and that is what it will continue to do. He called his lawsuit a showcase, because it would require the courts to prove whether there was democracy and an independent justice system in Hungary, claiming that "there is communism in Hungary." Guard members wear black uniforms reminiscent of Hitler's SS and carry symbols associated with Hungary's WWII Nazi party, the Arrow Cross, which was directly responsible for the murder of thousands of Jews..
Meanwhile, a government spokesperson has said that people involved in writing articles that incite others to hatred could be prosecuted under a proposed amendment to current laws. The proposal
follows a request by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany to the Ministry of Justice to seek ways of imposing sanctions on an openly anti-Semitic Internet website. The Prime Minister has also proposed a Civil Code amendment to allow legal redress through the courts for people who are insulted, hurt, or humiliated because of religious or ethnic affiliation, or sexual orientation.
